The presidency of the Palestinian Authority today called on the US to prevent the invasion of Rafah by the Israeli army, which this morning called on the residents of several districts of this city in the southern part of the Gaza Strip to evacuate them.

“We call on the US administration to intervene to prevent these massacres, for which we warn that there will be dangerous consequences”, the Palestinian presidency says, as reported by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, clarifying that the Palestinian Authority has intensified “intensive» talks with its international partners on this issue.

Earlier, Hamas said in a statement that any attack on Rafah would not amount to a “walk” for Israeli forces and indicated that it was fully prepared to defend Palestinians there.

For his part, Hamas official Izzat al-Rasiq said today that any Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah would jeopardize the truce negotiations.

The Israeli army intensified its shelling today against two neighborhoods in Rafah, whose residents were ordered to leave their homes this morning, the Palestinian civil defense agency in Gaza told AFP.

Israeli shelling, from the air and from artillery, “has continued since last night and has intensified since this morning,” explained Ahmed Redwan, a spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defense, clarifying that two of the districts targeted, Al Suqa and Al Salam are among those whose residents have been asked to leave by the Israeli army.

Earlier, residents said the Israeli military carried out airstrikes in Rafah today, hours after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate parts of the southern Gaza city, where more than a million people displaced by the war have taken refuge.

At the moment Israel has not commented on this. Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV reported that Israel targeted areas in eastern Rafah near neighborhoods that had been ordered to evacuate.