Israel says the area is a Hamas compound and has hit it repeatedly, including overnight when 16 people were killed, and on Sunday when 45 died.

Two witnesses told Agence France-Presse (AFP) they saw two Israeli tanks in the center of Rafah, a city that has seen heavy bombardment and fighting in recent weeks.

The Israeli tanks "are positioned at the Al-Aouda roundabout in the center of Rafah," one witness told AFP. A security source in Rafah also confirmed seeing Israeli tanks in the city center.

Residents also reported clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen near the same roundabout, AFP reported.

The overnight strikes killed a total of 16 people in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in the northwest of Rafah, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense and the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The area was previously hit in an airstrike late Sunday that Israel said targeted a compound used by the Islamist movement Hamas.

That strike set fire to a camp for displaced Palestinians, killing at least 45 people, more than half of them women, children and elderly people, according to local health officials, sparking international outrage.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a "tragic accident" and the military said it was investigating.

Israel says it is carrying out a limited operation in the eastern part of Rafah, along the Gaza-Egypt border. But residents reported heavy shelling overnight in western areas of Rafah as well.

Around 100,000 people have fled Rafah since early May, when the Israeli military launched a ground operation in the city, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families displaced by the war have sought shelter, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

Israel says it wants to clear the area of Hamas fighters who have taken cover there, and Israeli forces took control of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip early in their offensive.

The United States and other close allies of Israel have warned against a full-scale ground invasion of the city, with the Biden administration saying it would cross a "red line" and refusing to provide offensive weapons for such an undertaking. On Friday, the International Criminal Court called on Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah, an order it has no power to enforce.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press on, saying Israeli forces need to enter Rafah to dismantle Hamas and retrieve hostages seized in an October 7 raid that triggered the war.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said two medical facilities in Tel al-Sultan were out of service because of heavy shelling nearby.

Medical Aid for Palestinians, a charity that operates across the territory, said the Tel al-Sultan health center and the Indonesian Field Hospital were both closed, with medics, patients and displaced people trapped inside.

Most hospitals in Gaza are no longer functioning.

The Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah closed its doors on Monday after a strike near its entrance killed two medical staff.

A spokesman for the World Health Organization said the victims of Sunday's strike and fire had "completely overwhelmed" field hospitals in the area, which were already running out of supplies to treat severe burns.

The war was triggered by a Hamas rocket attack on Israel that killed more than 1,170 people on the Israeli side, most of them civilians killed on October 7, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Of the 252 people seized that day, 121 were civilians.

About 130 of the 252 people seized that day are still being held in Gaza, including around four dozen who are dead, according to the Israeli military.

In response, Israel vowed to wipe out Hamas and launched an offensive that has killed at least 36,096 people, most of them civilians, according to Palestinian officials.

Read Also: Northern Israeli cities ablaze after rockets fired from Lebanon (Portuguese version)

patrocinado por Betclic

Os melhores encontros para apostar na nova semana

Descarregue a nossa App gratuita.

Oitavo ano consecutivo Escolha do Consumidor para Imprensa Online e eleito o produto do ano 2024.
* Estudo da e Netsonda, nov. e dez. 2023 produtodoano- pt.com

Descarregue a nossa App gratuita.

Oitavo ano consecutivo Escolha do Consumidor para Imprensa Online e eleito o produto do ano 2024.
* Estudo da e Netsonda, nov. e dez. 2023 produtodoano- pt.com