RESIDENTS still trapped in Rafah will be used as "human shields" by Hamas thugs if they don't evacuate the war-torn city NOW, Israel has warned.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) are continuing to gear up for their immense six-week assault on the Gazan city to once and for all eliminate any remaining Hamas terrorists in a final battle.
Israel's defence minister warned on Sunday that an invasion of refugee-filled Rafah is imminent after a ceasefire deal crumbled due to Hamas' demands.
Bodies have already been piling up on the streets of Rafah as reports of dogs feasting on the corpses have started to emerge as the city awaits an almighty siege.
Yoav Gallant warned his government was preparing to launch "a powerful operation in the very near future in Rafah and other places across all of Gaza".
Some 1.5million civilians are sheltering in Rafah, with most having fled from cities, refugee camps, and villages further north.
Over 100,000 citizens are being ordered to quickly flee the eastern parts of the city by Israel as an attack looms.
Leaflets telling them to escape were dropped over Rafah across the weekend.
The IDF has built up a humanitarian area near the coast called Muwasi for people to stay.
The army said it had expanded the area to accommodate the huge surge in people turning up.
Hospitals, tents, food and water have all been stockpiled.
Israel is said to be planning to strike five sprawling Hamas tunnels and hideouts which it claims exist beneath the battered city.
Speaking to troops, Gallant said: "We have clear goals for this war: we are committed to the elimination of Hamas and the release of the hostages…
"We have identified alarming signs that Hamas actually does not intend to go for any agreement framework with us.
"What this means is an operation in Rafah and the entire Gaza Strip in the very near future."
Less than half of the 250 hostages snatched by militants on October 7 have been released in the seven months since Hamas launched its assault on Israel, though many are believed to have died in captivity.
The United Nations have warned any assault on Rafah could spark a bloodbath for helpless civilians.
Nations including the UK and the US are also pushing to avert a Rafah offensive.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said it would be "the biggest catastrophe in the Palestinian people's history".
But Netanyahu said Israel "will stand alone" if it must, telling world leaders at the weekend: "No amount of pressure, no decision by any international forum will stop Israel from defending itself.
"Never again is now."
Defence Minister Gallant added that "strong military action" will begin in Rafah "in the very near future, and in the rest of the Strip".
ISRAEL'S military is reportedly poised and ready to invade Rafah, whether or not it reaches a peace agreement with militant group Hamas.
So why does Israel want to storm the southern Gaza city?
Israel says Rafah is Hamas' last major stronghold in the Gaza Strip, as its military claims to have already dismantled 18 of Hamas' 24 battalions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "We will enter Rafah because we have no other choice.
"We will destroy the Hamas battalions there, we will complete all the objectives of the war, including the return of all our hostages."
The country believes Hamas has five battalions in Rafah and that its ground forces must move in to destroy them.
Hamas boss Yahya Sinwar is thought by the Israel Defence Forces to be holed up in tunnels beneath the city.
About 1.5 million Palestinians - more than half of Gaza's population - have sought refuge in Rafah, having fled from cities, refugee camps, and villages further north.
Israel has said it will evacuate civilians from the city before invading.
Its military claims to have purchased 40,000 tents, each with the capacity for 10 to 12 people, to house Palestinians relocated from the city ahead of the assault.
Satellite images in April showed Israel were already gearing up their troops and military trucks for the attack.
The chilling prediction of a last stand offensive in Rafah comes as reports out of the country say animals have started to eat on the piles of dead bodies building up on the streets.
Palestinian civilians have revealed the horrors they witness daily in the destroyed strip with one refugee in Gaza telling the BBC that dogs have been dragging corpses out of make-shift graves.
Abu Daqqa said: "This morning the dogs took out a body from one of the graves and were eating it.
"From night until dawn the dogs do not let us sleep... Our children keep holding on to me because of how scared they are."
It comes as...
Hours before the IDF evacuation order, Hamas brutally attacked an aid crossing killing Israeli troops.
It was branded proof that the terror group is using Palestinians as "human shields" to keep themselves alive.
Three soldiers were killed with 11 others being injured after 10 rockets were launched towards the Kerem Shalom crossing on Saturday where aid is regularly delivered across.
The Israeli military branded the attack "a clear example of the terrorist organisation's systematic exploitation of humanitarian facilities and spaces".
As they also said the terror group were once again using helpless Gazan civilians as "human shields".
Hamas said the target of the strikes was an Israeli military base and denied using civilians as human shields.
The threat of an imminent invasion of Rafah came as peace deal negotiations stalled on Sunday due to Hamas' "extreme" demands.
The offer from Israel is believed to be a similar one to the deal in place during the first public ceasefire agreement in November 2023.
Hostages are set to be freed on humanitarian grounds including the remaining women, children, men over 50, and those who are sick.
An increased supply of aid will also be delivered to the blitzed coastal strip after weeks of famine fears.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Hamas remains entrenched in its extreme positions, first among them the demand to remove all our forces from the Gaza Strip, end the war, and leave Hamas in power.
"Israel cannot accept that."
He added: "We are not willing to accept a situation in which Hamas’ battalions leave their tunnels, reestablish control over the Strip, rebuild their military industries and go back to threatening the citizens of Israel in the communities of the Western Negev, the cities of the south and throughout the country.
"In such a case, the next October 7, would only be a matter of time. Hamas would be able to realise its promise to carry out repeated massacres, rapes, and abductions."
Egyptian and Qatari mediators worked with the head of the CIA, William Burns, in Cairo over the weekend to try and progress a truce agreement - without a delegation from Israel.
Hamas' delegation is said to have left the negotiating table after it said it would only agree to a deal if Israel permanently ends the war.
The deal currently on the table involves Hamas releasing 33 hostages - all women, the elderly, and the sick.
On Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel had been "very generous" in its offer and was willing to pause fighting for 40 days to secure the release of the Israeli hostages.
Hamas' "extreme" demands included, according to the Israeli PM, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, the end of the war, and leaving the militant group intact.
The Israeli politician ruled out ending the war until all of his "aims are achieved".
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken dubbed Israeli's offer “extraordinarily generous” given their superiority in all aspects of the current conflict.
He said earlier this week: "The only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas."
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron also described Israel’s offer as “generous”.
He said: “I hope Hamas do take this deal and frankly, all the pressure in the world and all the eyes in the world should be on them today saying ‘take that deal.'”
Netanyahu has vowed to crush the "last bastion" of Hamas, which he believes is hiding in - or below - Rafah.
The Israeli PM has previously indicated the war in Gaza will continue "until Hamas is destroyed" and that "anyone who thinks we'll (Israel will) stop is unmoored from reality".
He said in December: "We’re raining fire on Hamas, hellfire. All Hamas terrorists, from first to last, face death.
"They have two options only: surrender or die."
Oct 7, 2023: Hamas gunmen launch horror attack killing thousands of innocent civilians and taking hostages
Oct 7, 2023: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is at war and prepares revenge airstrikes on Gaza
Oct 13, 2023: Israel tells residents of Gaza City to move south along the Gaza Strip
Oct 19, 2023: Yemen's Houthi terror groups start attacking cargo ships in the Red Sea linked to Israel including US and UK vessels
Oct 21, 2023: Aid trucks are sent through the Rafah border into Gaza
Oct 27, 2023: Israel launches ground offensive in Gaza
Nov 1, 2023: People try to evacuate Gaza completely as war ramps up but many forced to stay
Nov 15, 2023: Israeli troops enter Gaza's biggest hospital, Al Shifa, after a siege of several days as they believe Hamas are working inside
Nov 21, 2023: Israel and Hamas announce a ceasefire to last seven days and see the exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners
Nov 2023: Truce ends with only half of hostages returned
Dec 1, 2023: Fighting starts up again with first round of airstrikes in weeks
Dec 4, 2023: Israeli forces launch huge ground assault in southern Gaza, towards the main southern city of Khan Younis
Dec 12, 2023: Countries call on Israel to find a new ceasefire deal to stop civilian casualties
Jan 11, 2024: US and British warplanes, ships and submarines launch retaliatory strikes across Yemen
Feb 29, 2024: More than 100 Gazans die as they queued for humanitarian aid with Israel and Hamas having different views on what happened
April 1, 2024: Israeli air strikes kill seven aid workers for the World Central Kitchen charity
April 1, 2024: Iran's embassy hit in Damascus by a suspected Israeli airstrike killing several military officers and a top general
April 13, 2024: Tehran responds to the embassy strike by firing hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel but most are intercepted
April 19, 2024: Israel hits back at Iran with precision strike near a nuclear site in Isfahan
April 23, 2024: Israel gear up for six-week assault on Rafah
April 24, 2024: Hostage claims 70 people held captive have died after being bombed
April 29, 2024: Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu could be issued with an international arrest warrant over alleged war crimes in Gaza
