By Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO (Reuters) – Israeli forces pounded Rafah and different areas throughout the Gaza Strip and engaged in close-quarter fight with fighters led by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, residents and Israel’s army stated.
Residents stated the Israelis appeared to by making an attempt to finish their seize of Rafah, town on the enclave’s southern edge that has been the main focus of an Israeli assault since early Might.
Tanks have been forcing their means into the western and northern elements of town, having already captured the east, south and centre. Israeli forces fired from planes, tanks and ships off the coast, forcing a brand new wave of displacement from town, which had been sheltering greater than one million displaced individuals, most of whom have been compelled to flee once more.
The Israeli army stated on Friday its forces have been conducting “precise, intelligence-based” actions within the Rafah space, the place troops have been concerned in close-quarter fight and had situated tunnels utilized by militants. It additionally reported actions elsewhere within the enclave.
Some residents stated the tempo of the Israeli raid has been accelerated prior to now two days. They stated sounds of explosions and gunfire indicating fierce preventing have been virtually continuous.
Greater than eight months into the battle in Gaza, Israel’s advance is now centered on the 2 final areas its forces had but to storm: Rafah on Gaza’s southern edge and the world surrounding Deir al-Balah within the centre.
“The entire city of Rafah is an area of Israeli military operations,” Ahmed Al-Sofi, the mayor of Rafah, stated in a press release carried by Hamas media on Friday.
“The city lives through a humanitarian catastrophe and people are dying inside their tents because of Israeli bombardment,” he added.
Sofi stated there was no medical facility functioning within the metropolis, and that remaining residents and displaced households lacked the minimal of their each day wants of meals and water.
Palestinian and UN figures present that fewer than 100,000 individuals might have remained within the far western aspect of town, which had been sheltering greater than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million individuals earlier than the Israeli assault started in early Might.
The army accused Hamas of utilizing Palestinian civilians as human shields, an allegation Hamas denies.
“The soldiers located inside a civilian residence large quantities of weapons hidden in wardrobes, including grenades, explosives, a launcher and anti-tank missiles, ammunition, and arms,” the army stated in a press release late on Thursday.
Hamas’ armed wing stated on Thursday its fighters had hit two Israeli tanks with anti-tank rockets within the Shaboura camp in Rafah, and killed troopers who tried to flee via the alleys. There was no Israeli speedy touch upon the Hamas declare.
In close by Khan Younis, an Israeli air strike on Friday killed three individuals, together with a father and son, medics stated.
In parallel, Israeli forces continued a brand new push again into some Gaza Metropolis suburbs within the north of the enclave, the place they fought with Hamas-led militants. Residents stated the military forces had destroyed many houses within the coronary heart of Gaza Metropolis on Thursday.
In a while Friday, an Israeli air strike on a predominant highway in Gaza Metropolis killed 4 Palestinians, medics stated.
Israel’s floor and air marketing campaign was triggered when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing round 1,200 individuals and seizing greater than 250 hostages, in response to Israeli tallies.
The offensive has left Gaza in ruins, killed greater than 37,400 individuals, in response to Palestinian well being authorities, and left almost your complete inhabitants homeless and destitute.
(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Modifying by Peter Graff)