Israel on Monday intensified its siege in central Gaza, bombing the north of the Strip, and said it intended to expand its ground offensive into Rafah despite U.S. warnings against major action in the southern Gazan city that may risk catastrophic civilian casualties.
Gaza medics said at least 23 people had been killed in the latest fighting, and residents said battles were intense in Jabalia in the north of the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli tanks also carried out a limited incursion into areas of Wadi al-Salqa and al-Karara near Deir al-Balah, a central Gazan city that Israeli forces have not entered during more than seven months of war, local residents said.
Fighting raged as U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan held talks in Israel which the White House had said he would call for Israeli forces to target Palestinian resistance group Hamas members in Gaza, not with a full-scale assault on Rafah.
But Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signaled there would be no letup in its operation, intended to clear Rafah of Hamas members and rescue hostages seized in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that triggered the latest round of conflict.
"We are committed to broadening the ground operation in Rafah to the end of dismantling Hamas and recovering the hostages," a statement from Gallant's office quoted him as telling Sullivan.
There was no immediate U.S. comment on the Gallant talks.
Israel describes Rafah, which abuts the Gaza Strip's border with the Egyptian Sinai, as the last stronghold of Hamas, whose governing and combat capabilities it has been trying to dismantle during its more than seven-month siege on the blockaded enclave.
Israel told civilians to evacuate parts of the city on May 6 and began troop and tank incursions. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA estimates that 810,000 people have fled since then, possibly over half of Rafah's wartime population.
Israel's plan for an all-out assault on Rafah has ignited one of the biggest rifts in generations with its main ally, and Washington held up a weapons shipment over fears of large-scale civilian casualties.
Western powers and Egypt have voiced concern for the fate of hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians sheltering there, despite Israeli assurances about humanitarian safeguards.
The statement from Gallant's office said he "presented to (National Security) Adviser Sullivan the provisions Israel implemented for evacuating the population from the Rafah area and for setting up the appropriate humanitarian response."
Israel claims its forces in Rafah have discovered dozens of tunnels from the Sinai, if true, a potential embarrassment for Cairo. The Egyptian state information service has previously dismissed speculation about cross-border smuggling to Gaza as "lies."
In his visit, Sullivan was also discussing postwar plans for Gaza at a time when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces criticism from the other members of his War Cabinet. Netanyahu’s main political rival Benny Gantz has threatened to leave the government if a plan is not created by June 8 that includes an international administration for postwar Gaza.
On Sunday, Sullivan held talks with Netanyahu to discuss Saudi Arabia's recognition of Israel and to help the Palestinian Authority govern Gaza in exchange for a path to eventual statehood. Netanyahu has rejected the creation of a Palestinian state.
Israel has killed at least 35,400 Palestinians in Gaza since Oct. 7, mostly women and children, and aid agencies have also warned of widespread hunger and dire shortages of fuel and medical supplies.
Some 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage in the Oct. 7 rampage, according to Israeli tallies. About 125 people are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza. Israel's military says more than 280 soldiers have been killed in fighting since the first ground incursions in Gaza on Oct 20.
Talks mediated by Egypt and Qatar have failed to secure an end to the war.
Qatar's minister of state at the Foreign Ministry, Mohammed al-Khulaifi, said Monday he saw no political will to reach a cease-fire agreement in Gaza while military operations continued on the ground.
Israel says it wants to reach a deal allowing for an exchange of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinians held in Israel but has not committed to ending its offensive in Gaza.
Hamas, which has been running Gaza since 2007, says Israel must commit to ending the war and rejects any postwar settlement that excludes the group.
