Tel Aviv/Gaza, 13 February 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Ahead of Israel's planned military offensive on Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli government has proposed evacuating the city's population to extensive tent cities, according to a media report.

The Wall Street Journal newspaper on Monday cited Egyptian officials describing Israel's proposal for the evacuation, which envisages the establishment of 15 camps.

Each camp would contain around 25,000 tents, in the south-western part of the sealed-off coastal area. Egypt, which borders Rafah, would be responsible for setting up the camps and field hospitals, it said.

The city is overcrowded with hundreds of thousands of Palestinian internally displaced persons, who are seeking shelter there in a very confined space.

In the war against the Palestinian militant organization Hamas, Israel is currently preparing for a military offensive on the city, which it sees as Hamas' last bastion in Gaza.

The proposal to evacuate the population was submitted to Egypt in recent days, the newspaper reported. Israel's planned military offensive on Rafah has met strong international criticism.

Israel's government has called on UN organizations working in the region to help evacuate civilians from Rafah.

Everything that happens in the southern part of the region on the border with Egypt must take place with full respect for the protection of the civilian population, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in New York on Monday.

"We will not be party to forced displacement of people," Dujarric said. "As it is, there is no place that is currently safe in Gaza."

He also questioned whether anywhere in Gaza was safe, due to the large number of unexploded Israeli bombs, and the lack of shelter.

Photo: EPA