Sweeping order from military covers most of city in southern Gaza The Israeli military issued sweeping evacuation orders covering most of the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip on Monday morning. Earlier this month, Israel ended a ceasefire and renewed its air and ground war against the Hamas militant group. As Associated Press reports, Israel launched a major operation in Rafah, on the border with Egypt, last May, leaving large parts of it in ruins. Israeli forces seized a strategic buffer zone along the border and did not withdraw from it as called for in the ceasefire agreement, saying it needed to maintain a presence there to prevent weapons smuggling. In other developments: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu picked former navy commander Eli Sharvit to head the domestic security agency, his office said Monday, despite the supreme court freezing the dismissal of the current Shin Bet chief, Ronen Bar. Suspected US airstrikes struck around Yemen’s rebel-held capital, Sanaa, overnight, and the Iranian-backed Houthis say at least one person was killed. The full extent of the damage and possible casualties wasn’t immediately clear. The attacks followed a night of airstrikes early Friday that appeared particularly intense compared to other days in the recent campaign. Iran has responded to a letter sent by US President Donald Trump wrote to its supreme leader in an attempt to jump-start talks over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme, rejecting the option of direct talks. The decision leaves open the possibility of indirect talks with Washington, but such talks have made no progress since Trump in his first term unilaterally withdrew the US from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. Continue reading...