A makeshift tent city estimated to hold more than 1 million displaced Palestinian civilians is rapidly expanding in Rafah, southern Gaza, according to new satellite images from Maxar Technologies.
The images show much of the previously open area in Rafah has been filled with tents, largely between December 10 and February 3, as internally displaced Palestinians seek shelter from the war.
Aid workers have raised concerns over any expanded Israeli military operation in Rafah as forces push south in their war with Hamas.
More than half of the estimated 2.2 million people in Gaza are seeking refugee in the Rafah area, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
OCHA said Monday that refugees facing acute shortage of food, water, shelter and medicine are still pouring into Rafah as fighting worsens nearby.