Israel deepens Rafah offensive as civilians in central Gaza camps scramble for safety

Israeli forces bombed areas in the central Gaza Strip in overnight raids during wee hours of Thursday (June 20), killing three people and injuring dozens of others, as per the medics. Meanwhile, the Israeli tanks also deepened their invasion into Rafah in the southern part of blockaded Palestinian enclave.

Gaza health officials cited by news agency Reuters said that Israeli planes struck a house in Al-Nuseirat camp, killing two people and wounding 12 others. Tanks also shelled areas in Al-Maghazi and Al-Bureij camps.

Nuseirat, Maghazi, and Bureij are three of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps.

In Deir al-Balah, a city packed with displaced people in the central Gaza Strip, an Israeli air strike killed one Palestinian and wounded several others on Thursday, medics said.

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The Israeli military said on Wednesday (June 19) that its forces were continuing their operations across the enclave in what it described as "precise, intelligence-based" activities.

Over eight months into the war in Gaza, Israel's offensive is now focused on the two last areas its forces had yet to storm: Rafah on Gaza's southern edge and the area surrounding Deir al-Balah in the centre.

Since May, more than a million people have been forced to flee. The vast majority are already displaced from other parts of the blockaded Palestinian enclave.

A Reuters report described Israeli tanks stationed deep in the western and central areas of Rafah. The tanks reportedly stepped up bombardment, forcing more families living in the far coastal areas to flee northward.

Some residents said the pace of the raid has been accelerated in the past two days.

Rafah housed over half of Gaza's 2.3 million people until May 7 when Israeli forces began the ground offensive into the city. Fewer than 100,000 are now believed to be left behind.

On Thursday (June 20), Israeli authorities also freed 33 Palestinians who had been detained during the past months by Israeli forces in different areas of the blockaded Palestinianenclave. The freed detainees were admitted into Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip after they complained of torture and mistreatment, a claim Israel denied.

(With inputs from agencies)