Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant discussed further action in Rafah on Monday evening with representatives of his ministry and the Israeli COGAT authority which oversees contacts with the Palestinians and aid.

They focused on the evacuation of civilians from Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip and the expansion of food and medicine deliveries, according to the government press office.

More than a million people have fled to Rafah from attacks throughout the densely populated strip and there are growing concerns that Israel’s planned offensive in Rafah could lead to mass civilian casualties.

Before Iran unleashed its attack on Israel last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had set a date for an offensive in Rafah, though Gallant contradicted this shortly afterwards.

In the attack by Hamas and other Palestinian militants on the Israeli border area on October 7, more than 1,200 people were killed and over 250 people were abducted to the Gaza Strip.

More than 33,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the outbreak of war on October 7, according to health officials in the Hamas-led region.