Israeli tanks continued their raids in Rafah for a second consecutive day on Wednesday, defying the World Court’s directive to cease attacks in the city. This move came after Washington asserted that the assault did not amount to a major ground operation, despite prior warnings to Israel to avoid such actions in southern Gaza.
On Tuesday, Israel advanced its tanks into central Rafah for the first time, disregarding an International Court of Justice order to halt attacks in the city, which had become a refuge for many Palestinians amid widespread bombardment.
Although the United States, Israel’s closest ally, reiterated its opposition to a major Israeli ground offensive in Rafah, it maintained on Tuesday that it did not believe such an operation was underway.
Rafah residents reported that Israeli tanks had moved into Tel Al-Sultan in western Rafah, Yibna, and areas near Shaboura in the center, before retreating towards a buffer zone on the Egyptian border, unlike offensives elsewhere.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s National Security Advisor, Tzachi Hanegbi, stated that Israel’s military-controlled three-quarters of the buffer zone and aimed to control all of it to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons. He anticipated that fighting in Gaza would continue throughout 2024, indicating Israel’s reluctance to heed international calls for a ceasefire with Hamas and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas and its ally, Islamic Jihad, reported that they confronted the Israeli forces with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs and detonated pre-planted explosive devices. The Israeli military confirmed that three soldiers were killed and three others seriously wounded in combat in southern Gaza. Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan Radio, reported that they were injured by an explosive device in a building in Rafah.
Palestinian health officials reported several injuries from Israeli fire in eastern Rafah and stated that aid stores were set ablaze. Residents described continuous overnight bombardments destroying many homes in the area, prompting most people to flee following Israeli evacuation orders.
Some residents claimed to have seen unmanned robotic armored vehicles firing machine guns in parts of the city. Internet and mobile signals were disrupted in both eastern and western Rafah due to heavy Israeli air and ground bombardments, according to the pro-Hamas Shehab news agency, residents, and other journalists. The Israeli military did not confirm these reports.
In northern Gaza, tanks shelled several neighborhoods in Gaza City, and forces pushed deeper into Jabalia, the largest of the enclave’s eight major historic refugee camps, where residents reported significant destruction of residential areas.
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