Foreign passport holders, wounded granted passage to escape war-torn Gaza

AFP images showed whole families carrying their belongings and several injured people in wheelchairs and ambulances entering the heavily fortified gates at the Rafah border crossing -- the only one not controlled by Israel.

The border opening with Egypt provided the first glimmer of hope in the flaring humanitarian crisis in Gaza which the UN and other aid agencies have described as "unprecedented".

A strike on Gaza's largest refugee camp killed at least 47 people on Tuesday -- including a Hamas commander involved in the October 7 attacks, according to Israel.

A large explosion ripped through the densely packed Jabalia camp before nightfall, tearing facades off nearby buildings and leaving a deep, debris-littered crater.

The Palestinian telecommunications agency said on Wednesday that phone and internet services had "been completely cut off in Gaza", the second such blackout in a week.

Palestinian residents told AFP they had evacuated from northern Gaza, as demanded by Israel, but they were still under threat.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday to continue Israel's war on Hamas despite suffering "painful losses" in ground fighting inside the Gaza Strip.

"We have so many important achievements, but also painful losses. We know that every soldier of ours is an entire world," Netanyahu said in a televised address after the army confirmed at least 11 soldiers killed in ground fighting on Tuesday. "We will continue until victory."