Israeli military forces have moved further into Gaza and continue to operate in the Rafah area without commenting on reported advancements into the city center.
This from newsmax.com.
Witnesses said:
Israeli tanks reached the center of Rafah for the first time on Tuesday, three weeks into a ground operation in the southern Gaza city that has sparked global condemnation.
The witnesses told Reuters:
The tanks were spotted near Al-Awda mosque, a central Rafah landmark.
Residents said:
Overnight, [Israeli] forces pounded the city with airstrikes and tank fire, pressing its offensive despite an international outcry over an attack on Sunday that sparked a blaze in a tent camp, killing at least 45 Palestinians, more than half of them children, women, and the elderly.
Officials in the enclave run by Hamas militants said:
Since that strike, at least 26 more people have been killed by Israeli fire in Rafah.
Israeli tanks pushed towards western neighborhoods and took positions on the Zurub hilltop in western Rafah in one of the worst nights of bombardment reported by residents. On Tuesday, witnesses reported gunbattles between Israeli troops and Hamas-led fighters in the Zurub area.
Witnesses in Rafah said:
[T[he Israeli military appeared to have brought in remote-operated armored vehicles and there was no immediate sign of personnel in or around them. An Israeli military spokesperson had no immediate response.
Since Israel launched its incursion by taking control of the border crossing with Egypt three weeks ago, tanks had probed around the edges of Rafah and entered some of its eastern districts but had not yet entered the city in full force.
Reacting to Sunday night’s attack in a camp where families displaced from assaults elsewhere in Gaza had sought shelter, global leaders urged the implementation of a World Court order to halt Israel’s assault.
Residents said the Tel Al-Sultan area, the scene of Sunday’s deadly strike, was still being heavily bombarded.
One resident told Reuters over a chat app:
Tank shells are falling everywhere in Tel Al-Sultan. Many families have fled their houses in western Rafah under fire throughout the night.
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) claimed Tuesday:
Around one million people have fled the Israeli offensive in Rafah since early May.
NOTE: UNRWA has been exposed for ties to Hamas terrorist cells. Anything they report is highly susceptible.
Israel has kept up attacks despite a ruling by the top U.N. court Friday ordering it to stop, arguing that the court’s ruling grants it some scope for military action there.
Spain, Ireland and Norway will officially recognize a Palestinian state, despite an angry reaction from Israel, which has found itself increasingly isolated after more than seven months of conflict in Gaza.
The three nations have painted their decision as a way to speed efforts to secure a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas.
As reported by UNRWA and Hamas (Gaza’s health ministry):
More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive.
Israel launched the operation after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, brutally killing approximately 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages,
Israel has stated it intends to root out Hamas terrorists holed up in Rafah and rescue hostages it says are being held in the area.
Final thoughts: World leaders may continue to piss and moan hyperbolically or they can make themselves useful, however, Israel will annihilate Hamas and possibly return Gaza to those who call themselves Palestinians or not.
Forcing Palestinians into Egypt then securing the border seems to be a sound plan for ending problems in the Gaza Strip.
