Roughly 300,000 people in Palestine have fled Rafah, leaving them with “nowhere safe to go”, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). 

Israel has told tens of thousands more Palestinians to leave Rafah, as it intensifies military operations in southern Gaza. 

Flyers dropped from the air and posts on social media told residents in the city's eastern districts to go to al-Mawasi - a narrow coastal area which Israel calls an "expanded humanitarian zone". 

Israel has said it will proceed with planned operations in Rafah despite the US and other allies warning that a ground offensive could lead to mass civilian casualties and a humanitarian crisis. 

Displaced Palestinians, carrying their belongings from the city of Rafah. Image: Imago / Alamy Stock Photo

Israel's plans to extend its ground offensive to the southern tip of the Gaza Strip - where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge from fighting elsewhere in the territory, has sparked international concern. 

UNRWA described Israel as continuing a “forced and inhumane displacement” of Palestinian people. 

“There is nowhere safe to go,” they said online. 

US President Joe Biden's administration says Israel has 'probably' breached international law while using US weapons in Rafah, but officials can't prove it. 

Damaged buildings in in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Image: Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo

Trocaire CEO Caoimhe de Barra said the effects of a ground invasion in Rafah could be devastating. 

“This is the invasion that the world has been warning against for months,” she said. 

“Over a million people are affected, hundreds of thousands are already displaced. 

“They are moving to a place where there is no shelter, no food, no clean water and no medical access.” 

Ms de Barra said all access to humanitarian supplies are “virtually gone” for those fleeing Rafah. 

“This is a situation which is intolerable. It is having an impact on people, which is simply unconscionable,” she said. 

“All pressure must be brought to bear on both Israel and Hamas to return to ceasefire negotiations.” 

Roughly 35,000 people in Palestine have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.