Israeli forces ‘find Hamas weapons and tunnels’ during push into central Rafah
More than one million Palestinians have fled the city since the assault on the city began.
Israeli forces are operating in central parts of Rafah as part of an expanding offensive in the southern Gaza city, the military said.
Israel launched its ground assault into the city on May 6, triggering the exodus of around one million Palestinians from the city and throwing UN humanitarian operations based in the area into turmoil.
However, US President Joe Biden said Israel has not crossed the “red lines” of a full fledged invasion that he has urged them against.
Friday’s statement by the Israeli military suggested its forces have been operating in most parts of the city, and have found weapons and tunnels used by the militants.
In its first weeks, the Israeli assault focused on Rafah’s eastern districts and in areas close to the border with Egypt.
Israeli troops seized the Rafah crossing into Egypt on the first day of the offensive and have since claimed control over the Philadelphia Corridor, a road running the length of the Gaza-Egypt border on the Gazan side.
Earlier this week, Israeli troops also moved into Rafah’s western district of Tel al-Sultan, where heavy clashes with Hamas fighters have been reported by witnesses.
In its statement on Friday, the military said its troops in central Rafah had uncovered Hamas rocket launchers and tunnels and dismantled a weapons storage centre.
It did not specify where in central Rafah the operations were taking place but previous statements and witness reports have pointed to raids in the Shaboura refugee camp and other sites near the city centre.
Israel has said an offensive in Rafah is vital to rooting out Hamas fighters in its military’s campaign to destroy the group after its October 7 attack on southern Israel.
Palestinians who fled the city have scattered around southern and central Gaza, most of them living in squalid tented camps.
Up to around 300,000 people are believed to remain in the area, some of them still in the central parts of the city, a UN official said.
Shaina Low, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council, a humanitarian group that operates in the area, said most have flocked to rural areas west of the city near the coast — an area that has seen deadly Israeli strikes and shelling in the past week.
