Israeli forces step up attacks across Gaza

The Israeli military pounded Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip even as it intensified its attacks in the north and centre of the besieged Palestinian territory.

Residents said Israeli forces seemed to be trying to complete their capture of Rafah, the city on the enclave’s southern edge that has been the focus of a fierce assault since early May.

Tanks were forcing their way into the western and northern parts of the city, having already captured the east, south and centre.

Israeli forces fired from planes, tanks and ships off the coast, forcing a new wave of displacement from the city, which had been sheltering more than a million displaced people, most of whom have been forced to flee again.

Palestinian health officials said at least 12 Palestinians had been killed in separate Israeli military strikes on Friday.

The Israeli military said on Friday its forces were conducting “precise, intelligence-based” actions in the Rafah area, where troops were involved in close-quarters combat and had located tunnels used by Palestinian group Hamas.

Some Rafah residents said the pace of the Israeli raid had accelerated in the past two days. They said the sounds of explosions and gunfire were almost non-stop.

“Last night was one of the worst nights in western Rafah. Drones, planes, tanks, and naval boats bombarded the area. We feel the occupation is trying to complete the control of the city,” said Hatem, 45, reached by text message.

“The entire city of Rafah is an area of Israeli military operations,” Ahmed al-Sofi, the mayor of Rafah, said. “The city lives through a humanitarian catastrophe and people are dying inside their tents because of Israeli bombardment.”

Palestinian and United Nations figures show that fewer than 100,000 people may have remained in the far western side of the city, which had been sheltering more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people before the Israeli offensive began in May.