Israel killed at least six Palestinians and destroyed several houses on Sunday as its military advanced further into the Shejaiya neighborhood of northern Gaza and pushed deeper into western and central Rafah in the south.
Israeli tanks, which moved back into Shejaiya four days ago, fired shells toward several houses, leaving families trapped inside and unable to leave, the residents said.
The Israeli military claimed forces operating in Shejaiya had over the past day killed several Palestinian resistance members, located weapons and struck military infrastructure. On Saturday it announced the death of two Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza.
The armed wing of Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad reported fierce fighting in both Shejaiya and Rafah, saying their fighters had fired anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs against Israeli forces operating there.
More than eight months into Israel's air and ground war in Gaza, resistance members continue to stage attacks on Israeli forces, operating in areas that the Israeli army said it had gained control over months ago.
Arab mediators' efforts, backed by the United States, have so far failed to secure a cease-fire. Hamas says any deal must end the war and bring a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Israel says it will accept only temporary pauses in the fighting until Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007, is eradicated.
In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, Israeli tanks pushed deeper into several districts in the east, west and center of the city, and medics said six people had been killed in an Israeli strike on a house in Shaboura, in the heart of the city.
The six bodies from the Zurub family were transferred to Nasser Hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis. On Sunday, dozens of relatives paid their respects before the bodies, which were wrapped in white shrouds, and then carried them in their arms to prepared graves.
Residents said the Israeli army had torched the Al-Awda mosque in the center of Rafah, one of the city's best-known.
Israel has said its military operations in Rafah are aimed at eradicating the last armed battalions of Hamas.
The Israeli military said Sunday its forces continued "targeted, intelligence-based" operations in Rafah, killing several resistance members in different encounters and dismantling tunnels.
The latest Gaza war erupted when Hamas led an incursion into southern Israel on Oct. 7, causing around 1,200 deaths and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's genocidal war, in comparison, has so far killed nearly 38,000 people, according to the Gaza health ministry, and has left the heavily built-up coastal enclave in ruins.
