Israeli forces kill dozens of Palestinians as they push deeper in Gaza's north and south

Palestinian kids stand in a house destroyed by an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip May 22, 2024. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

CAIRO (Reuters) - Israeli forces killed 35 Palestinians in aerial and ground bombardments across the Gaza Strip on Thursday and battled in close combat with Hamas-led militants in areas of the southern city of Rafah, health officials and Hamas media said.

FILE PHOTO: Palestinians walk by houses which were destroyed in an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 22, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem/File Photo

Israeli tanks advanced in Rafah's southeast, edged towards the city's western district of Yibna and continued to operate in three eastern suburbs, residents said.

"The occupation (Israeli forces) is trying to move further to the west, they are on the edge of Yibna, which is densely populated. They didn't invade it yet," one resident said, asking not to be named.

A Palestinian woman looks on from a house which was destroyed in an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 22, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem/ File Photo

"We hear explosions and we see black smoke coming up from the areas where the army has invaded. It was another very difficult night," he told Reuters via a chat app.

Simultaneous Israeli assaults on the northern and southern edges of Gaza this month have caused a new exodus of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing their homes, and have cut off the main access routes for aid, raising the risk of famine.

Israel says it has no choice but to attack Rafah to root out the last battalions of Hamas fighters it believes are sheltering there. Its troops have been slowly moving into the eastern outskirts of Rafah since the start of the month.

"The troops are currently operating based on information regarding terror targets in the areas of 'Brazil' and 'Shaboura' while making every effort to prevent harm to civilians and after the civilian population in the area was evacuated," the Israeli military said in a statement. Palestinian residents said there had been no incursion in Shaboura in the centre of Rafah.

"IDF troops located a rocket launcher ready to fire at IDF troops. Moreover, the troops located and dismantled a number of terror tunnel shafts and launchers in the area, and eliminated several terrorists during close-quarters encounters," the Israeli military statement added.

UNRWA, the main United Nations agency in Gaza, estimated as of Monday that more than 800,000 people had fled Rafah since Israel began targeting the city in early May, despite international pleas for restraint.

A Palestinian man stands at a makeshift shop next to houses destroyed in an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 22, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem/ File Photo

In parallel, Israeli forces stepped up a ground offensive in Jabalia, where the military has razed several residential areas, and struck nearby Beit Hanoun town, areas where Israel declared major operations over months ago. Israel says it has had to return to prevent Hamas from regrouping there.

Palestinians inspect damage after Israeli raid on Jenin camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, May 23, 2024. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta

The Israeli military said in a statement forces began conducting targeted raids in Beit Hanoun "to eliminate terrorists, locate and strike terror infrastructure, below and above the ground."

The military said three soldiers had been killed in the fighting on Wednesday, raising the number of soldiers killed since Gaza incursions began on Oct. 20 to 286 soldiers.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza following a Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7 in which fighters killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages. Since then, Israel's assault in Gaza has killed more than 35,000 people, with thousands more feared buried under the rubble, according to Gaza health authorities.

(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi. Additional reporting by Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing by Ros Russell)