Residents of Rafah reported intense artillery shelling and gunfire in the city in the far south of Gaza, after Israel said it had captured the strategic corridor on the Palestinian territory’s border with Egypt.
The Israeli army began its incursion into Rafah in early May, despite international objections to the fate of Palestinian civilians hiding there.
The weekend strikes, which started a fire and killed dozens of people in a displaced persons camp, sparked a wave of fresh condemnation, including a social media campaign under the slogan “All eyes on Rafah” shared by tens of millions of users.
Israel, which has repeatedly vowed to destroy Hamas after the Palestinian militant group attacked southern Israel on October 7, announced yesterday that its forces had seized the 14-kilometer Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border, which it suspects has been used for arms smuggling.
A military spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, announced that Israel had taken “operational control” of the narrow border area, where troops had “discovered around 20 tunnels”.
Egypt, a long-time mediator in the conflict that has been increasingly vocal in its criticism of the Israeli operation, rejected the claim of smuggling tunnels running under the buffer zone.
Israeli forces have taken control of a buffer zone along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, the country’s military said on Wednesday, giving Israel effective control over the entire land border of the Palestinian territory.
Israel also continued deadly attacks on Rafah in southern Gaza despite an order by the International Court of Justice to end attacks on the city, which previously sheltered half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.
In a televised briefing, chief military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Israeli forces had taken “operational” control of the “Philadelphia Corridor,” using the Israeli military’s code name for the 14-kilometer corridor along the Gaza Strip’s only border with Egypt.
“The Philadelphia Corridor served as an ‘oxygen’ line for Hamas, which it regularly used to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip,” Hagari said.
Hagari did not specify what the “operational” control referred to, but an Israeli military official previously said Israeli “boots were on the ground” along parts of the corridor.
The border with Egypt along the southern edge was the only land border of the Gaza Strip not directly controlled by Israel. Earlier on Wednesday, Israel sent tanks to attack Rafah.
They entered the heart of Rafah for the first time on Tuesday despite an order by the United Nations’ highest court to immediately halt the attack on the city.
The World Court said Israel had not explained how it would protect Rafah evacuees and provide them with food, water and medicine. In its ruling, Hamas also called for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages taken from Israel on October 7.
Residents of Rafah said Israeli tanks entered Tel Al-Sultan in the west and Yibna and near Shaboura, then retreated towards the buffer zone on the border with Egypt, rather than staying put as in other offensives.
“We received calls for help from residents of Tel Al-Sultan where drones were targeting displaced citizens as they moved from the area where they were staying to safe territory,” said Deputy Director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in Rafah, Haitham al Hams.
Palestinian health officials said 19 civilians were killed in Israeli airstrikes and shelling across Gaza. Israel accuses Hamas militants of hiding among civilians, which Hamas denies.
