Last updated on August 27th, 2024 at 05:52 pm
Heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters continued Sunday in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, with fighting also continuing in central areas of the Gaza Strip, now home to thousands of displaced Palestinians.
Residents of Rafah, located on the Egyptian border, said heavy fighting was taking place between fighters led by Hamas and Israeli soldiers. The fighting was most intense in the center and west of the town, where Israeli tanks had pushed into over the last two days. Anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs hit Israeli forces according to the armed wings of Islamic Jihad and Hamas, who also said their fighters engaged Israeli forces.
The Israeli military said its troops had killed a group of combatants who had advanced towards them and that it had destroyed ammunition, tunnel shafts, and infrastructure at Tel al-Sultan in eastern Rafah.
Efforts to mediate a truce, with Qatar and Egypt at the forefront and backed by the United States, have so far been unsuccessful, with the fighting factions accusing each other of responsibility for the failure.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a negotiating delegation to strike a hostage deal would be sent on Thursday. Mr. Netanyahu has met with the negotiating delegation and senior defense officials. So far, the destination of the negotiating delegation is unannounced.
Israeli airstrikes over the past 24 hours have killed at least 64 people and injured over 100, according to the local health ministry. Strikes on Sunday alone killed at least 22 people, according to the Hamas-run Gaza government media office.
The central Gaza area, especially the Al-Nuseirat camp, has been one of the main focal points of the Israeli strikes over the past week, leaving scores dead and many injured.
“We hear the sounds of explosions in Nuseirat and we see smoke rising out of Deir Al-Balah,” said Tamer Aburakan, a displaced resident originally from Gaza City but now in Deir Al-Balah. Where shall we move further? The whole Gaza Strip is ablaze, and they hunt us like deer in the forest. Where is this going to stop? Where will this war ever end?” he asked via chat app.
High Tensions in the Region
The conflict began following an Israeli promise to crush Hamas after an Oct. 7 attack last year that killed 1,200 people and saw more than 250 hostages taken, according to Israeli authorities.
With regional tensions running high, there are fears the violence could spill over. Israeli jets bomb Houthi military targets near Yemen’s Hodeidah port on Saturday, a day after a drone launched by the Iranian-backed group hit Tel Aviv. In an Israeli separate attack, security sources said it targeted a depot storing ammunition belonging to the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Israel said on Tuesday it had eliminated half of the military leadership of Hamas and killed or captured some 14,000 fighters since the start of the war. The Israeli army added that 326 of its soldiers have been killed in the Gaza Strip.
