After more than six months of war and displacement, half the population of the Gaza Strip is thought to be sheltering in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city.

On Monday morning, Israel ordered 100,000 residents of Rafah's eastern neighbourhoods to evacuate to al Mawasi, on the Gazan coast. An IDF spokesman indicated that this would be the first stage in a larger evacuation of the city's 1.1 million residents.

The area being evacuated includes the Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings, through which the vast majority of aid enters Gaza. The offensive has led to the closure of both crossings.

The head of the UN's World Food Programme said on Monday that northern Gaza had entered "full-blown famine.