As mediators struggle to secure a cease-fire in the Gaza conflict, Israeli forces relentlessly attacked Rafah overnight, using airstrikes and ground assaults as reported on Friday.
Tanks attempted to advance further west, causing chaos among residents.
They then, stationed at the border with Egypt, launched raids into the city's western and central areas, catching many residents off guard and leaving them injured.
"I think the occupation forces are trying to reach the beach area of Rafah. The raids and the bombing overnight were tactical. They entered under heavy fire before they retreated," said one Palestinian man.
"It was one of the worst nights. Some people were wounded inside their homes before being evacuated this morning," he told Reuters via a chat app.
Israeli forces also operated inside the al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip on the ground while keeping two other camps and a nearby city under heavy bombardment from planes and tanks, killing and wounding several Palestinians, medics said.
Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and other smaller resistance groups reported that their members resisted invading Israeli forces in several areas in the central and southern parts of the enclave.
Qatari and Egyptian mediators, backed by the United States, have stepped up efforts to reach a cease-fire deal that will halt hostilities and see the release of Israeli hostages and a number of Palestinians held by Israel, but sources close to the talks said there were no signs of a breakthrough.
Since a brief weeklong truce in November, all attempts to arrange a cease-fire have failed, with Hamas calling for a permanent end to the conflict.
However, Israel insists that it is only prepared to discuss temporary pauses until it eventually defeats the resistance group.
"We have shown all the flexibility needed to reach a deal, but the Israeli occupation continues to refuse any commitment to end the aggression and pull its forces from the Gaza Strip," a Hamas official told Reuters.
"The occupation and the Americans are to blame for the absence of a deal so far because they don't want this war on our people to end," he said.
Israel's military assault on Gaza has killed more than 36,000 people, mostly women and children, according to health officials, who say thousands more dead are feared buried under the rubble.
The latest conflict erupted following Hamas' Oct. 7 incursion on southern Israel, which killed around 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. About half the hostages were freed in the November truce.
U.S. and Israeli officials told Reuters that about half of Hamas members have been killed in the conflict.
Hamas does not disclose fatalities among its members, and some officials say Israel exaggerated the figures.
