Explosions were heard in Rafah early on Sunday, with flashes illuminating the sky over the border city in the southern Gaza Strip which has become home to thousands of displaced Palestinians.
Israel’s military has pushed ahead with its punishing air and ground offensive in Gaza, bolstered by a US veto derailing UN Security Council efforts to end the war and word that an emergency sale of $106 million worth of tank ammunition had been approved by Washington.
Unable to leave the territory, more than 2 million Palestinians face the bombardment threat, even in areas that Israel had described as safe zones.
With the war in its third month, the Palestinian death toll in Gaza has surpassed 17,700, the majority women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory.
The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.
About 1,200 people were killed in the deadly Hamas attack on October 7 and hundreds were taken hostages, some of them were released but 137 remain in captivity.