The order, which came during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, included Rafah and parts of neighboring Khan Younis. The Israeli military issued a sweeping evacuation order for the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, signaling that it could relaunch intensive assaults in the area.

Israel is making plans for a potential major ground offensive in Gaza that would involve sending tens of thousands of troops into combat to clear and occupy large swaths of the enclave, an Israeli official and a second source familiar with the matter said.