Fierce street fighting and heavy Israeli bombardment continue in Rafah, after tanks rolled into the center of the southern Gaza city on Wednesday.
Following are seven updates on the ongoing conflict:
- Rafah, which shelters hundreds of thousands of civilians, has witnessed Israeli strikes that have killed at least 37 Palestinians, most of them living in tents.
- Israel’s military has announced the seizure of the entire length of Gaza’s border with Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor.
- The displacement crisis continues to worsen as a United Nations-run school in Deir el-Balah now shelters 16,000 people. Families, displaced from Rafah, are forced to sleep in hallways or set up makeshift plastic shelters within the school.
- The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) reports dire living conditions, with scarce resources, insufficient sanitation facilities, and very limited supplies.
- More than one million Palestinians have fled Rafah, previously a designated safe zone for Gaza’s displaced population. Many of these refugees have moved to Deir el-Balah or Khan Younis in search of safety.
- According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the latest Israeli attacks have resulted in the deaths of 53 people and injured 357 others in the past 24 hours.
- This brings the total number of casualties in Gaza during the conflict to 36,224 killed and 81,777 injured. The ministry also noted that many victims remain trapped under rubble, unreachable by rescuers. (Al Jazeera)