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Palestinians continue to flee Rafah, eastern Gaza Strip, due to ongoing Israeli attacks on 8 May. (Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images)

Senior international officials have criticized Israel’s military action in eastern Rafah, after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Monday ordered residents there to “immediately evacuate” as they carried out an operation in the town.

Nearly 50,000 people have left southern Gaza City in the past 48 hours as a result of Israel’s evacuation order, a senior UN refugee agency (UNRWA) official told CNN on Wednesday.

Many of those leaving Rafah have been displaced many times before as Israel’s focus shifted from city to city.

Hamas said the Israeli military move on Rafah is a “humanitarian disaster” that poses a “direct threat to the more than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians.”

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Wednesday that “Australia has been clear about our objections to a major Israeli ground attack in Rafah, and we have reiterated this to Israel again today.”

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong speaks during a joint news conference in Melbourne, Australia on May 1, 2024. (Reuters/Asanka Brendan Ratnayake/Reuters)

“The impact of an extended military operation on Palestinian civilians would be devastating,” he said.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock issued an immediate warning at the Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings.

Qatar “condemns in the strongest terms the bombardment of Rafah Governorate by Israeli occupation forces, the invasion of land crossings and the threat to displace civilians from housing and shelter centres.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks to the media in Berlin, Germany on April 25. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

The African Union, which brings together 55 countries, said it “strongly condemns the extension of this war to the Rafah crossing, the only corridor for humanitarian aid.”

Indonesian Foreign Ministry wrote

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov on Tuesday described the situation in Rafah as a “humanitarian disaster,” according to TASS, the country’s state media outlet.