Israeli tanks enter Rafah as ceasefire talks resume in Cairo

An Israeli incursion into the southern Gaza city does not appear to be the long-awaited full-scale invasion of the city, home to around a million displaced. Palestinians.

The Israeli army said on Tuesday that its tanks entered Rafah, in southern Gaza, and took control of the city's critical border crossing with Egypt in what they called a limited operation. operation to eliminate Hamas fighters and infrastructure that had been used to attack and kill four Israeli soldiers on Sunday.

The incursion does not appear to be the incursion to long-awaited large scale. invasion of Rafah, a city populated by about a million Palestinians, which Israel's allies are trying to avoid by pushing for a ceasefire deal.

International humanitarian officials said the military operation had halted the flow of Egyptian aid to Gaza, exacerbating extreme hunger and deprivation in the besieged territory.

“The situation is catastrophic in every sense of the word,” said Dr Suhaib Hems, director of Kuwait Hospital in Rafah, adding that 27 bodies and 150 injured had been transported to his facilities since Israeli tanks entered the city.

The Israeli military said it killed around 20 people in Rafah, describing the dead as Hamas militants.

Hamas said it fired on Israeli soldiers on Tuesday for another vital aid. near Kerem Shalom, along Gaza's southern border with Israel. The Israeli military said four mortar shells and two rockets were launched towards Kerem Shalom from Rafah, but no injuries or damage were reported.

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