 "The Israeli military declared on Friday that it was operating in the Rafah region, where troops were engaged in close-quarters fighting and had discovered terrorist tunnels, using \"precise, intelligence-based\" tactics Image Courtesy Reuters")
Residents and Israel’s military stated that Israeli soldiers bombarded Rafah and other places in the Gaza Strip and engaged in close-quarters fighting with fighters led by the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas.
Locals reported that the Israelis seemed to be attempting to finish taking Rafah, the city on the southern border of the enclave that has been the target of an Israeli attack since the beginning of 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.
At least 12 Palestinians have died in separate Israeli military attacks on Friday, according to Palestinian health sources.
The Israeli military declared on Friday that it was operating in the Rafah region, where troops were engaged in close-quarters fighting and had discovered terrorist tunnels, using “precise, intelligence-based” tactics. It recorded events occurring throughout the enclave as well.
Residents of Rafah claimed that throughout the last two days, the Israeli raid has intensified in speed. They claimed that there had been nearly constant noises of explosions and gunfire, signifying intense battle.
Over eight months into the Gaza War, Israel’s offensive is now concentrated on the two regions that its forces still haven’t stormed: the area around Deir al-Balah in the center of the Strip and Rafah on its southern border.
Less than 100,000 people may have stayed in the city’s far western sector, which was providing shelter to over half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents prior to the Israeli onslaught that started in early May, according to UN and Palestinian data.
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“The soldiers located inside a civilian residence large quantities of weapons hidden in wardrobes, including grenades, explosives, a launcher and anti-tank missiles, ammunition, and arms,” the military said in a statement late on Thursday.
The armed wing of Hamas announced on Thursday that its fighters had destroyed soldiers attempting to escape through the alleyways by hitting two Israeli tanks with anti-tank missiles in the Shaboura camp in Rafah. Regarding the Hamas assertion, there was no immediate response from Israel.
Three individuals, including a father and son, were killed by an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis, which is adjacent, on Friday, according to medics.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces engaged in combat with terrorists headed by Hamas as they pushed back farther into the northern suburbs of Gaza City. Locals reported that on Thursday, numerous homes in the center of Gaza City were demolished by IDF personnel.
Five individuals were murdered later on Friday, including four municipality employees, in an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza City municipality facility, according to the Civil Emergency Service of the region. Rescue crews were rummaging through the debris in search of additional casualties who had vanished.
According to Israeli estimates, terrorists led by Hamas invaded southern Israel on October 7, killing almost 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages. This incident set off Israel’s land and air campaign.
According to Palestinian health authorities, the offensive has killed over 37,400 people, destroyed Gaza, and left almost all of the population homeless or in poverty.