Terrified families flee Rafah as Israel set to open all-out assault

Leaflet instructs Palestinians to leave southern Gaza city as Benjamin Netanyahu shuns pressure from Joe Biden

Tens of thousands of Palestinians were fleeing Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, on Saturday, after Israeli warnings to evacuate before an imminent military assault that will open a bloody new phase of the seven-month-long conflict.

Roads leading out of Rafah were choked with long columns of young and old, sick and healthy, riding in overloaded pick-up trucks and battered cars, in pony carts and on hand-pulled trolleys. Many walked, carrying their belongings, under a searing summer sun. Some were pushed in wheelchairs or even carried.