Israeli tanks have reached the centre of Rafah for the first time, witnesses say, three weeks into a ground operation in the southern Gaza city that has sparked global condemnation.
The tanks were spotted on Tuesday near Al-Awda mosque, a central Rafah landmark, the witnesses told Reuters. The Israeli military said its forces continued to operate in the Rafah area without commenting on reported advancements into the city centre.
Overnight, its forces pounded the city with air strikes and tank fire, residents said, pressing its offensive despite an international outcry over an attack on Sunday that sparked a blaze in a tent camp in Rafah, killing at least 45 Palestinians.
Dozens of people died after an Israeli strike on Rafah that sparked a fire in a tent camp. Source: Getty / Eyad Baba/AFP
Israeli tanks pushed towards western neighbourhoods and took positions on the Zurub hilltop in western Rafah in one of the worst nights of bombardment reported by residents. On Tuesday, witnesses reported gunbattles between Israeli troops and Hamas-led fighters in the Zurub area.
Witnesses in Rafah said the Israeli military appeared to have brought in remote-operated armoured vehicles and there was no immediate sign of personnel in or around them. An Israeli military spokesperson had no immediate response.
'Tragic accident'
Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the deadly strike on a tent camp in Gaza's Rafah was a "tragic accident" that his government was investigating.
"In Rafah, we evacuated a million uninvolved residents and, despite our best efforts, a tragic accident happened yesterday," Netanyahu told parliament.
He added that "we are investigating the case and will draw the conclusions" after Gaza's health ministry reported 45 dead as the strike late Sunday sparked a fire that tore through a tent city for displaced Gazans.
The strike came hours after Hamas launched a barrage of rockets at Tel Aviv and other areas of central Israel on Sunday for the first time in months.
'This cannot continue'
Foreign Minister Penny Wong reiterated the federal government's call for a humanitarian ceasefire on Tuesday.
"The death and destruction in Rafah is horrific, this human suffering is unacceptable," Senator Wong said at a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday.
"We reiterate to the government of Israel, this cannot continue. We must see an immediate humanitarian ceasefire so that civilians can be protected."
She also reiterated calls for designated terrorist group Hamas to stop using Palestinian civilians as "human shields".
"We continue to call for the release of all hostages by Hamas and Israel must allow aid to flow at scale, as directed by the (International Court of Justice)," she said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he was "outraged" over the strikes on Rafah.
"These operations must stop. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians," Macron said on social network X.
Germany's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock and the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said a recent International Court of Justice ruling, which ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Gaza, must be respected.
"International humanitarian law applies for all, also for Israel's conduct of the war," Baerbock said.
A US National Security Council spokesperson said Israel "must take every precaution possible to protect civilians".
The UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland called on Israel to conduct a "thorough and transparent" investigation into the strike.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk decried "horrific" images that "point to no apparent change in the methods and means of warfare used by Israel that have already led to so many civilian deaths".
'The children were screaming'
Footage released by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society showed chaotic night-time scenes of paramedics in ambulances racing to the fiery attack site and evacuating the wounded, including children.
The Israeli attack sparked strong protests from Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and from Qatar, which warned it could "hinder" budding steps to revive stalled truce and hostage release talks in the Hamas-Israel war raging since 7 October.
The government media office in Gaza said earlier that the strike hit a centre run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees near Rafah, branding it a "horrific massacre".
Fighting has recently centred on Rafah, where Israel's military launched a ground operation in early May despite .
At least 35 people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah that hit tents for displaced people. Source: AAP / Haitham Imad
Strikes on Tel Aviv
Hamas' armed wing said Sunday that it targeted Tel Aviv "with a large rocket barrage in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians".
"Hamas launched these rockets from near two mosques in Rafah," Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.
"Hamas is holding our hostages in Rafah, which is why we have been conducting a precise operation" there.
The United Nations has warned of , where most hospitals are no longer functioning.
Last Monday, the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court said as well as for three top Hamas figures.
On Friday, the International Court of Justice or any other operation there that could bring about "the physical destruction" of the Palestinians.
Israel has bombarded Gaza since Hamas' 7 October attack in which more than 1,200 people were killed and over 200 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government.
More than 36,050 people have been killed in Gaza since 7 October, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The 7 October attack was a significant escalation in the long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
