Israeli forces pounded several areas across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, and residents reported fierce fighting overnight in Rafah in the south of the Palestinian enclave.
Residents said fighting intensified in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah, where tanks were also trying to force their way north amid heavy clashes. The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said fighters attacked Israeli forces with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs, Reuters reported.
Since early May, ground fighting has focused on Rafah, abutting Egypt on Gaza's southern edge, where around half of the enclave's 2.3 million people had been sheltering after fleeing other areas. Most have since had to flee again.
Medics said two Palestinians were killed in one Israeli missile strike in Rafah earlier on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said in a statement its forces killed a Hamas militant who had been involved in the smuggling of weapons through the border between Rafah and Egypt.
It said jets struck dozens of militant targets in Rafah overnight, including fighters, military structures and tunnel shafts.
In the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, an Israeli air strike destroyed a house, killing four Palestinians and wounding several others, medics said.
