Israeli tanks surrounded the eastern part of Rafah

Local residents reported intense fighting east and northeast of Rafah. According to Reuters, Israeli army units and militants from the terrorist organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad are facing each other there.

Hamas said it ambushed Israeli tanks near a mosque in eastern Rafah, meaning Israelis from the east had reached the edge of the built-up area.

Israel ordered civilians to leave the eastern half of Rafah. It has forced tens of thousands of people to seek shelter outside the city, which used to be the last refuge for more than a million Palestinians who fled other parts of the Gaza Strip during the war.

Israel says it cannot win the war without entering Rafah, where thousands of Hamas fighters are hiding. They say they will defend the city.

“It’s not safe here, it’s not safe in the whole of Rafah because tank shells have been falling everywhere since yesterday (Thursday),” 50-year-old Abu Hasan, a resident of the Tal as-Sultan camp outside the city, told Reuters via chat. “I’m trying to leave, but I don’t have 2,000 shekels (12,400 CZK) to buy a tent for my family,” he added.

“The departure of people from Rafah is accelerating, even from the western areas, even though the occupiers have not marked it as a red zone,” he added, adding that the Israelis are shelling and bombing the whole of Rafah, not just the eastern part of the city. According to the UN, 110,000 people have already left there.

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Near and Middle East

The Israeli military said its troops had discovered several tunnel shafts in eastern Rafah, and troops backed by air force had battled groups of Hamas militants, killing several of them. According to the military, warplanes hit several locations from which rockets were fired in the direction of Israel in recent days.

Tanks have already cut off the eastern part of Rafah from the south, occupying and closing the only crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Friday’s advance to the road that crosses the strip completed the encirclement of the “red zone” where evacuations were ordered.

US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday night that the United States will stop supplying ammunition and aerial bombs to Israel if the Israeli military expands its invasion of the densely populated Rafah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, expressed hope in a US television interview to overcome differences with Biden and reiterated his determination to defeat Hamas.

The Israeli army is attacking in Rafah

Near and Middle East

Another round of talks in Cairo ended without an agreement to stop the fighting and release hostages taken by Hamas. He said that earlier in the week he agreed to a proposal presented by Qatari and Egyptian mediators, which was previously accepted by Israel. Israel says the Hamas proposal contains points it cannot accept.

The war in the Gaza Strip began on October 7 last year with a terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed nearly 1,200 people and abducted more than 250 people to Gaza. Roughly half were released by Hamas at the end of November during the only truce so far, and they are still detaining 130 people, several dozen abductees apparently died in captivity. Israel’s retaliation, consisting mainly of massive bombing, claimed at least 34,900 victims in the Gaza Strip since October, according to the authorities there, controlled by Hamas.

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America