Gazan city of Rafah turned into war zone by Israel - mayor

Rafah Mayor Ahmed Al-Sufi said on Friday that the entire city has become a military operations zone due to the expansion of the targeted area and the Israeli ground incursion.

In a statement to Anadolu, Sufi said the Israeli army destroyed homes south of Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Street and entire residential blocks west of the city in the southern Gaza Strip.

The US administration usually claims that Israel "does not conduct major military operations that cross the red line" in Rafah, despite images of the Israeli army's military offensives.

Sufi warned that "Rafah is experiencing a real humanitarian catastrophe with the continuation of the ground military operation, the closure of crossings, and the prevention of the entry of food supplies and relief aid."

He warned of the "deterioration of the humanitarian and health conditions, especially with the absence of a hospital or health center providing medical services in the city currently."

Sufi highlighted that the displaced people are now "dying in their tents, having been forced to relocate due to the deliberate Israeli bombing and targeting of various shelter centers, particularly in the western regions."

Since the beginning of the war, Israel has closed the Gaza Strip crossings and blocked the entry of goods, permitting only small amounts of humanitarian aid through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt since November.

On May 7, Israel took control of the crossing and completely destroyed it. Since Israel assumed control of the Palestinian side of the crossing, Cairo has refused to coordinate with Tel Aviv.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

The Palestinian death toll from relentless Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since last October has exceeded 37,400, according to the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave.

More than 85,600 people have also been injured in the onslaught, the ministry added.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in its latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.