Bombardment and heavy fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas terrorists in the southern Gaza city of Rafah have forced 800,000 civilians sheltering there to flee, the chief of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees said in a post on X.

Philippe Lazzarini said people were fleeing to areas without water supplies or adequate sanitation.

Israel’s military said airstrikes hit more than 70 targets across Gaza while ground troops conducted “targeted raids” in eastern Rafah, killing 50 militants and locating dozens of tunnel shafts.

Israel has vowed to defeat remaining Hamas forces in Rafah, which it says is the Iran-backed group’s last bastion.

Palestinian sources in Rafah said Israeli forces were operating in the Al-Salam and Jenina neighborhoods and on the Philadelphi route along the Egyptian border.

Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said it fired a barrage of rockets towards Israel’s port of Ashkelon and targeted an Israeli command center at the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

Late Saturday, Israel’s military issued new evacuation orders for parts of northern Gaza, saying militants in the area had fired rockets at Israel.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army said 310 pallets of humanitarian aid began moving ashore through a floating pier built by the United States.

Satellite pictures showed more than a dozen trucks lining up Saturday on its approach road.

In the coming days, around 500 tons of aid are expected to be delivered via the pier, according to US Central Command.