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The Israeli there are military took control of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt and its tanks stormed the southern Gaza city of Rafah after night of airstrikes of the Palestinian enclave.
The Israeli offensive came as mediators struggled to secure a ceasefire between Israel and its Hamas foes and as the conflict entered its eighth month.
The Palestinian militant group said late 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 aircraft attacked several areas and houses there overnight.
On Tuesday morning, people searched for bodies under the rubble of destroyed buildings. One corpse was taken for burial, wrapped in a white shroud.
Raed al-Derbi said his wife and children were killed.
“We are patient and will remain steadfast on this earth. .. We are waiting for liberation and this battle will be for liberation, God willing,” he said.
More than one million people have sought refuge in Rafah, living in tent camps and makeshift shelters.
Many are trying to leave, heeding Israeli orders to evacuate, but with large areas of the coastal enclave already devastated, they say they have nowhere safe to go.
Israel’s military said a limited operation in Rafah aimed to kill fighters and destroy infrastructure used by Hamas, which runs the besieged Palestinian territory.
Egypt said the Israeli operation in Rafah was jeopardizing ceasefire efforts, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the attack would be deadly for civilians.
“I’m afraid it will again cause a lot of casualties, civilian casualties,” he told reporters. “There are no safe zones in Gaza.
A total of 34,789 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
The war began when Hamas fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting about 250 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain captive in Gaza, according to Israeli figures.
A spokesman for Gaza’s border authorities told Reuters the Rafah border crossing, a vital aid route to the devastated enclave, was closed due to the presence of Israeli tanks.
Israel’s army radio earlier said its forces were there and army footage showed tanks driving through the crossing and the Israeli flag raised on the Gaza side.
Red Crescent sources in Egypt said aid to Gaza has been completely halted in Rafah and at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom border crossing.
The United States and other foreign governments have been pressing Israel not to launch a campaign in Rafah until it has drawn up a humanitarian plan for the Palestinians hiding there.
“The Israeli occupation condemned the residents of the Strip to death after the closure of the Rafah border crossing,” said Hisham Edwan, a spokesman for the Gaza border control authority.
Israel said most people had been evacuated from the area of military operations and told them to go to what it called an “extended humanitarian zone” about 20 kilometers away.
As the ceasefire talks stalled, mediator Qatar said its delegation would head to Cairo on Tuesday to resume indirect talks between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas said in a statement on Monday that its leader, Ismail Haniya, had informed Qatari and Egyptian mediators that the group had accepted their ceasefire proposal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later said the proposal did not meet Israel’s requirements, but Israel would send a delegation to meet negotiators to try to reach an agreement.
Netanyahu’s military cabinet has approved the continuation of the operation in Rafah, his office said.
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