At least 20 people have been killed in Israel’s continuous attacks on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip since Tuesday, the media reported.
Israel targeted at least four residential buildings in Rafah, injuring dozens of people, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa’s report.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said in a press statement on Tuesday that their militants “attacked Israeli soldiers stationed around the Rafah crossing” as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.
Israel’s military said on Tuesday that it had started “a precise counterterrorism operation” in Rafah city in the south of the Gaza Strip and assumed “operational control” over the Rafah crossing in Gaza.
The crossing, which has served as a passage for humanitarian aid from Egypt to war-torn Gaza, was out of service.
Since the beginning of the assault overnight on Monday, Israel said it had taken control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing, with the Israeli forces killing at least 20 militants.
Israeli forces attacked the Rafah city from the ground and air, the military said, as residents reported heavy and relentless bombardments.
The military said it had struck “military structures, underground infrastructure, and three operational tunnel shafts”.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military seized control of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt on Tuesday and its tanks pushed into the southern Gazan town of Rafah after a night of air strikes on the Palestinian enclave.
The Israeli offensive took place as mediators struggled to secure a ceasefire agreement between Israel and its Hamas foes and as the conflict entered its 8th month.
The Palestinian militant group said late on Monday it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal but Israel said the terms did not meet its demands.
Amid international concern over the plight of civilians crammed into Rafah, Israeli tanks and planes attacked several areas and houses there overnight.
