US officials have renewed their objections to a Rafah operation, following a phone call last week between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, AFP reports.

“We have made clear to Israel that we think a full-scale military invasion of Rafah would have an enormously harmful effect on those civilians and that it would ultimately hurt Israel’s security,” said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.

Israel has invited tenders for 40,000 large tents, according to a document on the defence ministry website — part of its preparations to evacuate Rafah ahead of an offensive, a government source told AFP on condition of anonymity.