Israel claims its army is in central Rafah

(Patria) - The Israeli army said on Friday that its forces are operating in the central parts of Rafah.

Israel launched a ground offensive on the city on May 6, causing an exodus of about one million Palestinians from the city and throwing UN humanitarian operations in the area into disarray, AP reported.

However, this has yet to represent a "major operation" in the eyes of US President Joe Biden's administration, according to the State Department.

Biden said on Friday that Hamas is "no longer capable" of carrying out another large-scale attack on Israel and called on Israelis and Hamas to reach an agreement on the release of the remaining hostages for an extended ceasefire.

He said that Israeli officials offered Hamas a three-phase deal, adding: "Israel has made its proposal. Hamas says it wants a ceasefire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it."

Ceasefire talks stalled earlier this month after significant pressure from the US and other mediators to secure a deal, in hopes of preventing a full-scale Israeli invasion of Rafah.

The Israeli army's statement on Friday indicates that its forces are operating in most of the city. In the first weeks, the Israeli offensive focused on the eastern areas of Rafah and areas near the border with Egypt.

Israeli troops occupied the Rafah crossing to Egypt on the first day of the offensive and have since taken control of the Philadelphi Corridor, a road that runs along the Gaza-Egypt border on the Gaza side.

Earlier this week, Israeli troops also entered Rafah's western Tel al-Sultan district, where witnesses reported heavy clashes with Hamas fighters.

In its statement on Friday, the army said its troops in central Rafah discovered Hamas rocket launchers and tunnels and dismantled the group's weapons depot. It did not specify where the operations took place in central Rafah, but previous statements and witness reports indicated raids in the Shaboura refugee camp and other locations near the city center.

Israel has said the Rafah offensive is vital to eradicating Hamas fighters in its military campaign to destroy the group following the October 7 attack on southern Israel. The army said it found dozens of tunnels in eastern Rafah, including at least twenty along the Philadelphi Corridor.

An estimated 300,000 people are believed to remain in the Rafah area, with an unknown number still in the city itself. Most have flocked to rural areas on the Mediterranean coast west of the city, said Shaina Low, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council, a humanitarian group operating in the area.

The area has seen deadly Israeli strikes in the past week. Palestinians who fled the city have scattered across southern and central Gaza, most of them living in miserable tent camps.

More than 36,170 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israel's bombing and offensive campaign over the past eight months.

Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas to ensure it cannot repeat the October 7 attack, in which it stormed southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking around 250 others hostage. Around 100 hostages are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza along with the bodies of about thirty others.