Thick black smoke rising from the Rapha building on May 10, 2024 (AFP)
- Israel has announced that it is engaged in close combat with Hamas in Rafah.
- The city was cut in half by tanks, and the eastern side of the city was surrounded by Israeli forces.
- A Hamas ambush forces Israeli forces to deploy on the outskirts of Rafah.
Israeli tanks captured the main road separating Rafah's eastern and western halves on Friday, effectively encircling the entire eastern side of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Residents said there was near constant explosions and gunfire in the east and northeast of the city on Friday, as heavy fighting continued between Israeli forces and militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Hamas said it had ambushed an Israeli tank near a mosque in the eastern part of the city, a sign that Israeli forces had penetrated several kilometers from the east into the city's suburbs.
Israel has ordered civilians to leave the eastern half of Rafah, forcing tens of thousands to flee the city, compared to more than a million people who fled other parts of the enclave during the war. It was the last place of refuge.
Israel insists it cannot win the war unless it attacks Rafah to eradicate the thousands of Hamas fighters believed to have taken refuge there. Hamas says it will fight to defend it. Aid agencies say the fighting is putting at risk hundreds of thousands of civilians who have already been displaced.
Abu Hassan, 50, a resident of Tel al-Sultan, west of Rafah, told Reuters via a chat app: “Since yesterday, tank shells have been landing everywhere, and the whole of Rafah is not safe.”
“I'm about to leave the country, but I can't afford 2,000 shekels to buy a tent for my family,” he said. “There has also been an increase in the movement of people from Rafah from the western region, even though it was not designated as a red zone by the occupation forces.
“The military is targeting not only the east but all of Rafah with tank shells and airstrikes.”
The Israeli military said its forces discovered tunnels east of Rafah and that troops supported by airstrikes engaged a group of Hamas fighters at close range, killing several people.
The report said Israeli warplanes had struck several locations where rockets and mortars were fired at Israel in recent days, including the Kerem Shalmon intersection. .
Israeli tanks have already blocked off eastern Rafah from the south, capturing and sealing off the only border between the enclave and Egypt. On Friday, a march on Salahuddin Road, which bisects the district, completed the siege of the “red zone” where residents were ordered to leave.
The potential attack on Rafah this week has created the biggest rift in generations between Israel and its closest ally, the United States. The United States is blocking arms shipments to Israel for the first time since the war began.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel would “fight with our nails” if necessary. He said in a US television interview that he hoped Israel would overcome its differences with President Joe Biden.
Ceasefire talks broke down on Thursday without an agreement on a halt to fighting and the release of hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on October 7.