TEL AVIV, May 6. /TASS/. Israel attacked more than 60 Hamas targets near the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip during the day, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said.

"During the day IAF (Israeli Air Force - TASS) fighter jets hit more than 50 terrorists’ facilities near Rafah," he said, adding that Israel continues preparations for a military operation in Rafah and calls on local residents to evacuate to safer places.

"Tonight, we also call upon those staying in specific areas which we have communicated and defined through every means - radio, media, internet, and flyers - in eastern Rafah, to move towards the expanded humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi and Khan Yunis, where they will receive full humanitarian aid and where water, food, medical equipment, and shelter will be provided," he stressed.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank.

The world community has recently been calling on Israel to drop its plans of deploying troops to Rafah and cease hostilities in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible. Israel, however, insists that the operation in Rafah is essential for the complete defeat of Hamas units in Gaza.