JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had approved the military's plan for an operation in Rafah, where most of war-battered Gaza's population has sought refuge.
Netanyahu "approved the plans for action in Rafah," his office said in a statement, without giving details or a timeline.
The statement said the military was "prepared for the operational side and for the evacuation of the population".
Rafah is the last major population centre yet to be subjected to a ground assault during Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which was triggered by the fighters' unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7.
The attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli figures.
Hamas took about 250 Israeli and foreign hostages on October 7, and Israel believes about 130 of those remain in Gaza including 32 presumed dead.
Israel's retaliatory campaign against Hamas has killed at least 31,490 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the territory.
US President Joe Biden, who has supported Israel during the war, has said an Israeli invasion of Rafah would be a "red line" without credible civilian protection plans in place.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a visit to Vienna on Friday that Washington had not seen any plans for a Rafah operation, but reiterated that it wants a "clear and implementable plan" to ensure civilians are "out of harm's way".
The office of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas "expressed deep concern over an imminent Israeli military offensive in Rafah, which could result in a new massacre and further displacement of the Palestinian people in Gaza," the official Wafa news agency reported.
"The presidency underscored the urgency for swift intervention by both the US administration and the international community to avert this military attack, which could add to the already immense suffering of the Palestinian people," Wafa said.
The German foreign ministry said "a large-scale offensive in Rafah cannot be justified".
"Over a million people have sought refuge there and have nowhere to go," it said on X. "We need a humanitarian ceasefire now, so that the dying ends and the hostages are finally released." -- AFP