Israel’s military said on Thursday that it was fighting in neighbourhoods near the heart of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, apparently expanding its campaign against Hamas in a week when the diplomatic and legal fallout from the war has taken centre stage.

The military said it was operating in the Brazil and Shaboura areas of the city, which are roughly halfway between Israel’s southwestern border and the Mediterranean coast. When Israel’s push into Rafah began on May 6, the military said it was carrying out a limited operation against Hamas battalions in the city, which lies along Gaza’s border with Egypt.

Israeli troops were “continuing operational activity in specific areas of Rafah”, the military said, adding that it was “making every effort to prevent harm to civilians” and moving in “after the civilian population in the area was evacuated”. Around 815,000 people have already left Rafah as a result of the fighting and Israeli warnings to flee, the UN said this week, amounting to well over half the number of Palestinians who had crowded into the city in recent months.

New York Times News Service