Military troops have started on Thursday warning residents in Rafah to leave during the second phase of evacuation of the Rafah borderline.
Residents have started looking for alternative houses in Arish and Sheikh Zuwayed cities, saying they received instructions from armed forces to clear another 500 meters away from the borderline, making the total evacuated area reach 1 km.
The earlier decision ordered clearing 500 meters as a security buffer zone between Egypt and the Gaza border. In the process, 802 houses have been destroyed and 1150 families are now displaced.
Several counter-terrorism measures were taken including evacuation of residents in Rafah and declaring three-month state of emergency in Sinai upon a deadly terrorist attack against military personnel in October, which left at least 30 soldiers killed, others injured.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
