Israel-Gaza latest: Israel says it has taken control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing, killing 20 militants – with aid reportedly halted | World news

Israel has rejected a ceasefire proposal accepted by Hamas – and announced it will press ahead with an attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering.

The Israeli army said yesterday it was carrying out “targeted attacks” on Hamas in the east of the city, the group’s last stronghold in Gaza.

Shortly after the announcement, Israeli tanks entered Rafah and advanced within 200 meters of the border crossing with Egypt, the Associated Press reported, citing an Egyptian official who said the operation appeared to be limited in scope.

There were hopes for a breakthrough in the ceasefire after Hamas said its chief, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed Qatari and Egyptian mediators that the group had accepted their ceasefire proposal.

It sparked celebrations on the streets of Gaza, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the ceasefire proposal did not meet demands.

It added that Israel would send a delegation today to meet negotiators to try to reach an agreement.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said its delegation would go to the Egyptian capital Cairo to continue indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Egypt and Qatar have been mediating in talks between Hamas and Israel for months.

Thousands of Israelis protested across the country calling for an immediate agreement. In Jerusalem, about a hundred people marched to Netanyahu’s house with a banner that read: “The blood is on your hands.”

An Israeli official described Hamas’s announcement as “a ruse designed to make Israel look like the party that refuses a deal.”

Aid groups have warned that an attack on Rafah would be disastrous for the 1.4 million Palestinians who have fled there.

Five killed in air strikes

Israeli airstrikes killed at least five people in the city last night, including a child and a woman, hospital officials said.

On Sunday, Hamas fighters near the Rafah border crossing fired mortars into southern Israel, killing four Israeli soldiers.

Israeli leaflets, texts and radio broadcasts ordered Palestinians to evacuate Rafah’s eastern neighborhoods, warning that an attack was imminent and warning that anyone who remains “endangers themselves and their family members.”

Israel and Hamas urge ‘going a step further’

US President Joe Biden has spoken to Netanyahu and reiterated US concerns about a Rafah invasion, while UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged Israel and Hamas to “take the extra step necessary to reach an agreement “said his spokesperson.

More than 34,600 Palestinians have been killed during the war, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, although the count does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.

The UN has warned that the enclave is on the brink of famine.

The war began when Hamas militants crossed the border into Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking 252 hostages, 133 of whom are still trapped in Gaza, according to Israeli figures.