Israeli forces engaged in intense battles with Palestinian fighters in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Sunday. The fighting also extended to central areas of Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians displaced from their homes have sought refuge.
In Rafah, particularly in the central and western parts of the city, fierce clashes took place between Hamas-led fighters and Israeli forces, who had advanced with tanks over the previous two days. The armed wings of Islamic Jihad and Hamas reported using anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs against Israeli troops.
The Israeli military claimed its soldiers killed a group of fighters moving toward them and destroyed ammunition, tunnel shafts, and infrastructure in Tel al-Sultan, in the eastern part of Rafah.
Efforts to broker a ceasefire, led by Qatar and Egypt and supported by the United States, have stalled due to disagreements, with each side blaming the other for the deadlock.
Israeli airstrikes over the past 24 hours killed at least 64 people and wounded over 100, according to the Gaza health ministry. On Sunday alone, at least 22 people were killed by Israeli strikes, as reported by the Hamas-run Gaza government media office. The Al-Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, where dozens have been killed, has been a particular focus of Israeli attacks in recent days.
Tamer Aburakan, a displaced resident of Gaza City now in Deir Al-Balah, expressed the desperation and fear felt by many Palestinians: “We hear the sounds of explosions in Nuseirat and we see the smoke rising from here in Deir Al-Balah, the last refuge you can say, and we are being terrorized by the feeling tanks may roll here. Where should we go next? The entire Gaza Strip is under fire and we are being hunted like deer in a forest. When is enough? When will the war ever end?”
Tensions in the region remain high, with the potential for violence to spread. Israeli jets targeted Houthi military sites near Yemen’s Hodeidah port on Saturday after a drone attack on Tel Aviv by the Iranian-backed group. Separate Israeli strikes hit an ammunition depot belonging to the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Israel vowed to eradicate Hamas following an attack by its fighters on October 7 last year, which killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Gaza health authorities report that at least 38,983 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive since then.
Israel claims it has eliminated half of Hamas’ military leadership and killed or captured around 14,000 fighters since the war began. Israel also reports 326 of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza. Hamas does not release casualty figures and accuses Israel of exaggerating its claims to fabricate a “fake victory.”