IDF armored forces advanced during the night and were seen by Rafah residents in several areas in the city's center, including near the Al-Awda mosque, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The tanks are part of a "targeted" and "precise" move on Hamas battalions that fired rockets from Rahaf into Tel Aviv late last week, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told media Tuesday.
He said four IDF brigades during the past 24 hours expanded ground operations into new areas in Rafah, including the central area.
The 401st Armored, Bislach, Nahal and 12th brigades entered Rafah during the nighttime hours after IDF forces helped evacuate an estimated 950,000 Gazans since May 6, Israeli officials said.
The IDF maneuvers come two days after a fire killed an estimated 45 civilians in a tent city after IDF forces fired two artillery shells at Hamas targets Sunday.
The IDF fired two 17-kilogram munitions at two senior Hamas militants after intelligence indicated no women or children were in the compound and no tent shelters were nearby, Hagari told media Tuesday.
Hagari showed video of the alleged targets and said the two munitions could not have ignited a fire of that size. He suggested Hamas had weapons stored in the area.
Israeli officials earlier assured U.S. officials only precision munitions were used in the strike Sunday and suggested shrapnel or the initial explosion ignited a fuel tank that caused the civilian casualties.
The IDF controls up to 40% of Rafah after evacuating between 60% and 70% of the city's population.
Also, the IDF offensive caused the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry to close two of the city's three hospitals. The Indonesian Field Hospital and the Tal Al-Sultan Clinic are closed while the Tal Al-Sultan Maternity Hospital remains open.
Israel army says its munitions alone 'could not' have caused Sunday's deadly Rafah blaze
Jerusalem (AFP) May 28, 2024 -
Israel's army said Tuesday its munitions alone "could not" have caused a deadly blaze that Gaza health authorities reported killed 45 people in the Palestinian territory's far-southern city of Rafah.
"Our munition alone could not have ignited a fire of this size," military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a press briefing on the preliminary findings of an army probe into Sunday night's deadly inferno that drew international condemnation.
Israel's military said it had targeted and killed two senior Hamas militants in northwest Rafah in the strike, which sparked a blaze that tore through an encampment full of displaced Palestinians.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday called it "a tragic accident".
Hagari told reporters the army had gathered "precise intelligence" before the strike, including aerial surveillance, as part of an effort to "minimise civilian harm".
The strike targeted a compound "outside the area that we designated as a humanitarian area".
Hagari was referring to an area in Al-Mawasi that the army had ordered people in Rafah to go to when it launched its ground assault on the city.
Aircraft dropped two 17-kilogramme munitions on the target, he said, adding that was the smallest-sized munition that Israeli jets can use.
"We know that in the compound that we attacked there were only Hamas members," he said.
Hagari said the cause of the fire following the strike was still undetermined.
"We are looking into all possibilities, including the option that weapons stored in a compound next to our target... may have ignited as a result of the strike."
The spokesman aired a recording of a phone call he said Israeli intelligence had intercepted, which raised "the possibility that weapons stored in a nearby compound caught fire".
"We are also assessing footage documented by Gazans on the night of the strike, posted on social media, which appear to show secondary explosions, indicating that there may have been weapons in the area."
Hagari also showed satellite imagery that he said showed Hamas rocket launchers about 40 metres (yards) from the structure that had been targeted in the strike.
"Despite our efforts to minimise civilian casualties, the fire that broke out was unexpected and unintended," he said.
Hagari pledged that the army would carry out a "swift, comprehensive and transparent" investigation.
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