'Roughly 50,000' Evacuate Rafah as Israel Strikes Region, UN Says

An estimated 50,000 people evacuated the southern Gazan city of Rafah in the last 48 hours as Israel continued strikes on the region, a spokesperson for the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) told media on Wednesday, May 8.

Footage filmed and posted to Instagram by Mahmoud Bassam shows strikes and smoke rising in the city on Wednesday morning.

On Wednesday, director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza Scott Anderson said no aid was being delivered to the region and the Rafah crossing due to ongoing military operations and “bombardments” throughout the day. “This is disastrous for the humanitarian response,” he wrote.

On Tuesday, UNRWA said the agency would remain in the city for as long as possible. Credit: Mahmoud Bassam via Storyful