Paramedics reported that "Israeli forces bombarded areas in central Gaza during the night, resulting in three deaths and dozens of others injured. Residents stated that tanks continued to advance in the city of Rafah in the southern strip." Health officials indicated that Israeli aircraft struck a house in Nuseirat camp, leading to the deaths of two individuals and injuring 12, with additional injuries reported from tank shelling on sites in Maghazi and Bureij camps. Nuseirat, Maghazi, and Bureij are three of the eight old refugee camps in Gaza.
In Deir al-Balah, a city densely populated with displaced persons in the central strip, paramedics said that an Israeli airstrike resulted in the death of a Palestinian and injured several others on Thursday. The Israeli army stated on Wednesday that its forces continue operations across the strip targeting militants and military infrastructure in what it described as "precise activities based on intelligence information."
More than eight months after the outbreak of war in Gaza, Israeli forces are currently focusing their operations on the last two areas yet to be fully infiltrated, namely Rafah at the southern end of Gaza and the area surrounding Deir al-Balah in the central strip. The operations have forced over a million people to flee since May, with the vast majority of them already having come from other areas in the strip to the city earlier in the war.
In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, Israeli tanks stationed within areas of the western and central city intensified operations, causing more families living in distant coastal areas to flee northward. Some residents reported that the pace of the assault had accelerated in the past two days. Abu Waseem, a resident of the Shabura neighborhood in Rafah who left his home over a week ago before the tanks moved into the city center, said, "The tanks are stationed in many areas of Rafah, and even people living near the shore have left their homes and displaced to Khan Younis and the central area due to fear of bombardment."
Rafah housed more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million population until May 7, when Israeli forces began their ground assault on the city. It is now believed that fewer than 100,000 people remain there. There are no signs of a ceasefire as international mediators, supported by the United States, have failed to persuade Israel and Hamas to agree to a truce. The Al-Qassam Brigades and Al-Quds Brigades, the military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, stated that their fighters engaged with Israeli forces using anti-tank missiles and mortars and detonated pre-planted explosive devices in some areas against Israeli army units.
