Israel's calls for Palestinians in eastern Rafah to evacuate the area to Al-Mawasi, just north of the city, marks "the start of the nightmare scenario that we've been dreading for months," warned Samah Hadid, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council.

"We’ve been warning against a military operation in Rafah because the consequences will be deadly and devastating for the over 1 million IDPs in the area," Hadid said in a phone interview with NBC News this morning, using the acronym for internally displaced persons.

Hadid said her organization not only fears for the safety of those who remain in Rafah, but also for those who evacuate to the Al-Mawasi area, which she said she does not believe is equipped to handle a mass influx of people. "It doesn't have the humanitarian services and assistance that’s required to accommodate such a large number of displaced people so it’s ... for us, it’s impossible for this area to be designated as a safe area or a humanitarian zone," she said.

Calling on the Biden administration to "use its influence and leverage over Israel" to stop any possible military operation in Rafah, Hadid said: "It is beyond time for the U.S. government to suspend its arms sales" and military aid to Israel.

Israel ordered the local offices of Qatar’s Al Jazeera satellite news network to close yesterday, escalating a long-running feud between the broadcaster and Netanyahu’s hard-line government as the Doha-mediated cease-fire negotiations with Hamas hang in the balance.

The extraordinary order, which includes confiscating broadcast equipment, preventing the broadcast of the channel’s reports and blocking its websites, is believed to be the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet operating in the country.

JERUSALEM — Palestinians are being forced to move once again, and they are increasingly convinced that an Israeli operation in Rafah is coming.

This time, in an unprecedented move, they're being forced out of the city of Rafah along the Egyptian border where more than 1 million Palestinians are taking shelter because they were told it would be safe there.

They were told to get out of the way to allow for new Israeli military operations against Hamas and instructed to go to another area on the Mediterranean coast, which Israel designated as a not-quite-safe but safer zone.

Displaced Palestinians were packing their belongings into vehicles this morning as they prepared to flee Rafah following an evacuation order by the Israeli military.

JERUSALEM — This morning, Israelis stopped for two minutes of silence to remember the six million Jews butchered by the Nazis and their allies during World War II.

The moment of contemplation came a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected international pressure to halt the war in Gaza in a fiery speech.

“If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone,” he said yesterday, amid calls for restraint from a growing chorus of world leaders who have criticized the heavy toll caused by Israel’s military offensive against Hamas in Gaza.

His message was delivered in a setting that typically avoids politics on one of the most solemn dates on the country’s calendar.

“I say to the leaders of the world: No amount of pressure, no decision by any international forum will stop Israel from defending itself,” he said, speaking in English. “Never again is now.”

Israel's order for Palestinians to evacuate eastern Rafah is a "dangerous escalation that will have consequences," a senior Hamas official warned this morning.

The official, Sami Abu Zuhri, told the Reuters news agency that the U.S. also "bears responsibility for this terrorism," in an apparent reference to Washington's support for Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel accused the militant group of having “sabotaged” a possible cease-fire deal.

In a statement released this morning, the Israeli prime minister's office appeared to strike out at comments from top Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh yesterday accusing Israel of torpedoing efforts to reach a deal.

“The claim that Prime Minister Netanyahu and not Hamas is the one who sabotaged the hostage release deal is a complete lie and a deliberate deception of the public,” the statement said. “The truth is completely the opposite. Hamas is the one that sabotages every deal by not moving a millimeter from its extreme demands that no government in Israel can accept.”

Video captured by NBC News' crew on the ground in Gaza this morning showed families leaving eastern Rafah, with their few possessions in tow.

Cars and trucks could be seen driving away from the area, their roofs loaded with stacked mattresses, rolled-up blankets and other necessities.

Some could be seen walking, carrying backpacks and hauling large plastic bags on their backs. Other families were just beginning to pack, filling the trunks of their cars with suitcases and boxes.

The city has been crowded with people for months, many of them displaced from elsewhere in Gaza after fleeing the Israeli military's assault further north in the Palestinian enclave.

JERUSALEM — Talks to secure a new cease-fire between Israel and Hamas have not completely collapsed, two regional sources told NBC News this morning.

A senior Arab negotiator directly involved in the talks with Israel and the United States said that the negotiations are not over and have not collapsed, so it is not yet clear when or whether a major Rafah operation could begin.

Israel's call for Palestinians to evacuate eastern Rafah come a day after Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hamas "rocket and mortar barrage" toward the Kerem Shalom crossing, according to the IDF.

The crossing for delivering badly needed aid to Gaza was closed overnight and this morning the IDF said the number of soldiers killed had risen to four following the strike.