At least 45 Palestinians were killed as Israeli forces bombed Rafah and other areas in southern Gaza on Friday, local residents and the Israeli military reported.
Residents said Israeli forces appeared to be trying to fully capture Rafah, which lies on the Egyptian border and has been the focus of Israeli attacks since early May.
Tanks were forcing their way into the western and northern parts of the city, having already captured the east, south and central parts.
Bombing from aircraft, tanks and ships on the coast led to a massive flight from the city, where until a few months ago more than a million displaced people had taken refuge, most of whom have now been relocated.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 25 Palestinians were killed and 50 wounded in Mawasis in western Rafah. Palestinians said a tank shell hit a tent housing displaced families.
“Two tanks went up to the top of a hill overlooking Mwasi and fired firebombs which fell on the tents of displaced poor people in the area,” one resident told Reuters over a chat app.
The Israeli military said the incident was under review. It said: “Initial investigations show there are no indications that the humanitarian area of al-Mawasi was attacked by the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces).”
Earlier, the army said its forces were carrying out “precise, intelligence-based” operations in the Rafah region, where troops were involved in close-quarters fighting and had detected tunnels used by Hamas.
The military said troops last week targeted a university that serves as a Hamas headquarters, where Hamas militants fired on troops and seized weapons and barrel bombs. It did not name the university.
Troops in the central Gaza region of Nuseirat last week killed dozens of militants and found a weapons depot containing mortar bombs and Hamas military equipment, the army said.
Some residents said Israeli attacks on Rafah had intensified over the past two days and the sounds of explosions and gunfire had not stopped.
“Last night was one of the worst nights in western Rafah: drones, planes, tanks and navy boats bombarded the area. We think the occupiers are trying to take full control of the city,” Hatem, 45, said via text message.
“They are facing heavy attacks from resistance fighters, which could slow them down.”
Attacks on Khan Younis and Gaza City
It has been more than eight months since the war in Gaza began, and Israel’s advance is now focused on the two last areas its forces have not yet captured: Rafah, on the southern edge of Gaza, and the area around Deir al-Balah in the centre.
“The entire city of Rafah is an area of Israeli military operations,” Rafah Mayor Ahmed al-Sofi said in a statement carried by Hamas media on Friday.
“The city is going through a humanitarian disaster and people are dying inside their tents because of the Israeli bombing.”
Sophie said no medical facilities in the town were functioning, and the remaining residents and displaced families did not have even minimum daily necessities such as food and water.
Palestinian and United Nations figures show there are probably fewer than 100,000 people left in the city’s far western part, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population took refuge before the Israeli assault began in early May.
Three people, including a father and son, were killed in Israeli air strikes on Friday in nearby Khan Younis, medics said.
In parallel, Israeli forces continued their offensive against some of Gaza City’s suburbs in the northern sector, where they clashed with Hamas-led militants.
Five people, including four municipal workers, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza City municipal facility on Friday, the territory’s civil emergency service said. Rescuers are scouring the rubble looking for more missing victims.
At least seven people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a house in a nearby beach camp, medics said.
At least 45 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza on Friday, Palestinian health officials said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said its office in Gaza was damaged when heavy bombs landed nearby, an area where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are living in tents.
“This serious security incident is one of several that have occurred in recent days; stray bullets have previously reached ICRC structures,” the organization said in a post on X on Friday. “We condemn these incidents which put the lives of humanitarians and civilians at risk.”
Israel’s ground and air campaign began when Hamas-led militants infiltrated southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
According to Palestinian health officials, the offensive has devastated Gaza, killing more than 37,400 people, and leaving nearly the entire population homeless and destitute.
The United Nations said on Friday that Israel, as the occupying power of the Gaza Strip, has a responsibility to restore public order and security in the Palestinian territory so that humanitarian aid can be delivered amid warnings of imminent famine.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
