Witnesses told Reuters that several Israeli tanks reached Rafah city center on Tuesday.
Witnesses said the tanks were found near Rafah’s central landmark, the Al-Awda Mosque.
The Jerusalem Post The IDF was contacted, but the Israeli military declined to comment on the development, choosing to defer to Reuters’ report.
The report comes as IDF troops continued to operate in the Rafah area overnight. IDF soldiers carried out precision operations based on intelligence indicating terrorist targets in the Philadelphia corridor.
Four IDF brigades operate in Rafah
KAN reported that four IDF brigades were active in Rafah over the past day and began expanding ground maneuvers to new areas, including central Rafah. The 401st Armored Division, the Nahal Brigade, the 12th Brigade and the Bislach Brigade entered Rafah overnight.
The news follows extensive reports that the IDF succeeded in evicting some 950,000 Palestinian civilians in the two weeks from May 6.
30-40% of Rafah is now under IDF control, not just a small part of the eastern sector, 60-70% of Rafah has been completely evacuated.
Rafah hospitals were closed
The IDF has been pushed into central Rafah as the humanitarian situation worsens in the southern city of Gazan. The Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry said on Tuesday that both the Indonesian field hospital and the Tal al-Sultan clinic in Rafah had been closed, leaving only the Tal al-Sultan maternity hospital open.
Jonah Jeremy Popp and Reuters contributed to this report.
