JAKARTA - Israel insists its troops are in downtown Rafah "against" international condemnation of operations in the southern Gaza city
The Israeli military is at the center of Rafah, Israel's Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed in a statement on Friday, May 31, despite international concerns and anger over its military operations in Gaza's southernmost city.
The IDF statement confirmed what witnesses told CNN earlier this week when the tanks were seen in the center of Rafah for the first time since entering the city earlier this month.
IDF troops in Rafah are finding Hamas rocket launchers, terror tunnels, and weapons. Troops also dismantled Hamas weapons storage facilities in the area, "the IDF said in a statement.
On Wednesday, May 28, the Israeli military said it had established an operational control over the Philadelphia Corridor, a 14-kilometer (8.7-mile) buffer zone on the Palestinian side on the Egypt-Gaza border.
Access to mobile phone services in Rafah was cut off on Thursday, May 30, due to an ongoing Israeli attack, Palestinian telecommunications firm Jawwal said in a statement.
Israel's attack on Rafah in early May marks a new phase in its war against Hamas in Gaza, which has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the region, displaced most of the residents on the track and sparked a very dire humanitarian catastrophe. international agency.
Over the weekend, Israel launched airstrikes against refugee camps in the city, killing dozens of people and causing global outrage. The attack also killed two Hamas leaders, Israel said.
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Footage obtained by CNN showed the camp on fire, with the condition of residents including children panicked trying to find protection from the night attack. Burned bodies, including children, were evacuated by rescue teams.
"The tragic word can't even describe it," US Vice President Kamala Harris said of the incident on Tuesday. But neither he nor President Joe Biden said the attack crossed the red line for US support.
Biden said in an interview with CNN earlier this month that he would not allow certain US weapons to be used in major attacks on the Rafah.
Confirmation of IDF's presence in Rafah comes as they claim to have ended operations in East Jabalya, north of the Gaza Strip.
The military said in a statement its troops had destroyed more than 10 kilometers (six miles) of tunnels and weapons production sites in the Jabalya operation, which began earlier this month and involved what the IDF described as intense combat and close-range encounters.
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