Israeli tanks penetrate the center of Rafah and airstrikes persist across the city despite global calls to end the carnage.
Israel continued its attack on Rafah, ignoring a draft resolution presented to the UN Security Council to “stop the killing” in the city in southern Gaza.
Fresh airstrikes were reported on the southernmost city on Wednesday morning, hours after witnesses and a Palestinian security source said Israeli tanks had penetrated the heart of Rafah.
“Currently, people are inside their homes because anyone who moves is being shot at by Israeli drones,” said resident Abdel Khatib.
Israeli airstrikes hit several parts of the city, including the vicinity of Badr camp and the Zourob roundabout west of the city, according to the Palestinian news agency Shehab.
A complete shutdown of telecommunications and Internet services in Rafah was also reported.
“The military now has control over the Philadelphia Corridor and is advancing deeper into the remaining part of the corridor – in the western part of the city of Rafah.”
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said Israel “continues to herd people from one place to another” amid the attacks.
Previously, when attacking targets in northern and central Gaza, the Israeli military designated Rafah as a safe zone. This brought more than half of the enclave’s 2.3 million inhabitants to the city.
Now, around a million people reportedly left Rafah as the Israeli attack began. Israel’s allies warned against attacking the city, citing the risk of civilian casualties and the growing humanitarian crisis.
“Those who were told to stay in the al-Mawasi evacuation zone to avoid being shelled are again on the move, seeking shelter elsewhere. But there is no safe place in a war zone. Bombings are taking place everywhere, not only in Rafah, but also in Khan Younis and the rest of the Gaza Strip”, reported Mahmoud.
“The bombing extended to the vicinity of the Kuwait Hospital, which is completely out of service. All but one of Rafah’s field hospitals are also out of service,” he added.
US President Joe Biden has joined calls for Israel to refrain from launching a major military operation in Rafah. However, his administration insisted on Tuesday that Israel has not yet crossed its red lines.
“We didn’t see them attack Rafah,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
A civil defense official in Gaza said an Israeli attack on a displacement camp west of Rafah on Tuesday killed at least 21 people.
Israel’s army rejected claims that it carried out Tuesday’s attack in a designated humanitarian area.
“O [Israel army] did not attack the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi,” the army said in a statement, referring to an area that was designated to shelter people displaced from Rafah.
‘Stop the killing’
A similar attack over the weekend that killed 45 people sparked global outrage and prompted Algeria to convene an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Tuesday night.
The North African state took advantage of the meeting to present a draft resolution calling for an end to Israel’s offensive in Rafah and an “immediate ceasefire”.
The project made reference to last week’s decision by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering Israel to immediately suspend its military attack on the city.
Algeria’s ambassador to the UN, Amar Bendjama, said after the meeting of the 15 members of the UN security body in Gaza that the aim of the measure was to “stop the killing in Rafah”. Algeria is a member of the council for 2024-25.
The council was scheduled to discuss the matter again on Wednesday. Diplomats suggested a vote could take place within days. However, the United States vetoed three previous proposals to secure a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
