Locals say the IDF moved toward Rafah\u2019s Al-Mawasi area, a designated humanitarian zone by the Israeli army since May
\n CAIRO
\nIsraeli tanks advanced deeper into the western area of Rafah, amid one of the worst nights of bombardment from air, ground, and sea, forcing many families to flee their homes and tents under darkness, residents said on Thursday.
\nResidents said the Israeli forces thrust towards the Al-Mawasi area of Rafah near the beach, which is designated as a humanitarian area in all announcements and maps published by the Israeli army since it began its Rafah offensive in May.
\nThe Israeli military denied in a statement it had launched any strikes inside the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone.
\nIsrael said its assault aimed to wipe out Hamas\u2019 last intact combat units in Rafah, a city which had sheltered more than a million people before the latest advance began. Most of those people have now moved north towards Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza Strip.
\nThe Israeli military said in a statement it was continuing \u201cintelligence-based, targeted operations\u201d on Rafah, saying forces in the past day had located weapons and killed Palestinian gunmen in close-range combat.
\nOver the past day, the military said it had struck 45 targets across the Gaza Strip from the air, including military structures, resistance cells, rocket launchers and tunnel shafts.
\nIsrael has ruled out peace until Hamas is eradicated, and much of Gaza lies in ruins. But Hamas has proven resilient, with fighters resurfacing to fight in areas where Israeli forces had previously declared to have defeated them and pulled back.
\nCeasefire proposal
\nThe group welcomed a new US ceasefire proposal but made some amendments, reaffirming its stance that any agreement must secure an end to the war, a demand Israel still rejects.
\nIsrael described Hamas\u2019s response to the new US peace proposal as total rejection. But the efforts to secure an agreement are still continuing, according to mediators Qatar and Egypt, backed by the United States.
\nSince a brief week-long truce in November, repeated attempts to arrange a ceasefire have failed, with Hamas insisting on a permanent end to the war and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
\nHamas precipitated the war when fighters stormed from Israeli-blockaded Gaza into southern Israel in a lightning strike last Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages back to the enclave, according to Israeli tallies.
\nIsrael\u2019s invasion and bombardment of Gaza since then has killed at least 37,000 people, according to the territory\u2019s health ministry. Thousands more are feared buried dead under rubble, with most of the 2.3 million population displaced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Locals say the IDF moved toward Rafah\u2019s Al-Mawasi area, a designated humanitarian zone by the Israeli army since May CAIRO Israeli tanks advanced deeper into the western area of Rafah, amid one of the worst nights of bombardment from air, ground, and sea, forcing many families to flee their homes and tents under darkness, residents […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412781,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-412758","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n