The Israeli military has confirmed that its forces are operating in central parts of Rafah in its expanding offensive in the southern Gaza city.
The military said in a statement Friday that its troops in central Rafah had uncovered Hamas rocket launchers and tunnels and dismantled a weapons storage city of the group. This comes after a devastating strike on Sunday near a Rafah refugee camp caused a fire with reportedly 45 people dying including women and children.
At least a dozen people were killed in two airstrikes Friday in central Gaza. Two children and four women were among the dead. Palestinians in the border city of Rafah have reported heavy fighting in recent days as Israel’s military widened its offensive in the south, seizing control of the entire length of Gaza’s border with Egypt.
Read more: US-made bombs reportedly used in strike on Rafah refugee camp that killed 45
Israel launched its ground assault into the city on May 6 and has mainly been operating in its eastern districts and close to the border with Egypt. This week, it also moved into the city's western district of Tel al-Sultan, where witnesses have reported heavy clashes with Hamas fighters.
Friday's statement did not specify where in central Rafah the operations were taking place, but previous statements and witness reports have pointed to raids in the Shaboura refugee camp and other sites near the city centre. More than one million Palestinians have fled the city since the assault began, scattering around southern and central Gaza. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry has said that more than 36,000 people have died since Israel invaded following the October 7 raid into Israel.
On Sunday night, an attack on a displacement camp killed at least 45 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and the Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service. The ministry said the dead included at least 12 women, eight children, and three older adults, with another three bodies burned beyond recognition.
Mohammed Abuassa, who rushed to the scene in the northwestern neighbourhood of Tel al-Sultan, said rescuers "pulled out people who were in an unbearable state." He said: "We pulled out children who were in pieces. We pulled out young and elderly people. The fire in the camp was unreal."
Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, condemned the airstrike, saying the images coming out of Gaza are a "testament to how Rafah has turned into hell on earth". In an aggressive meeting Thursday, Israel’s national security adviser told hostage families that the government wasn’t ready to sign a deal to bring all of the hostages home and that there was no plan B.
Gil Dickmann, whose cousin Carmel is being held hostage, told The Associated Press that during a face-to-face meeting with Tzachi Hanegbi and several hostage families, they were told the government wasn’t prepared to end the war to bring their loved ones back. “I said: ‘Does that mean that we’re doomed, we’re lost?’ He said, yes,” said Dickmann.
The remarks came a day after the official said he expects the war to drag on for another seven months, in order to destroy the military and governing capabilities of Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group. Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducted around 250 others in the Oct. 7 attack. Around half of those hostages have since been freed, most in swaps for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a weeklong cease-fire in November.