Israel's evacuation orders to Palestinian civilians trapped in the southern Gazan city of Rafah are "unacceptable", EU chief Charles Michel wrote Saturday on X, formerly Twitter.

Earlier Saturday, Israel's military ordered Palestinians to leave more areas of eastern Rafah and the northern Gaza Strip as it pressed ahead with its fight against Hamas militants.

"Evacuation orders for civilians trapped in Rafah to unsafe zones are unacceptable," wrote Michel, the head of the European Council representing the EU's 27 member countries.

"We call on the Israeli government to respect international humanitarian law and urge not to undertake a ground operation in #Rafah," he added.

"Crossing points must be fully functioning and allow essential humanitarian assistance to get through amidst raging famine."

Michel also called for efforts to get a lasting ceasefire to continue.