Israeli tanks push into Gaza's Rafah, as displaced civilians flee again

Israeli tanks forged deeper into eastern Rafah, reaching some residential districts on May 14, stepping up an offensive in the southern border city where more than a million people had been sheltering after being displaced in seven months of war.

Israel's international allies and aid groups have repeatedly urged against a ground incursion into refugee-packed Rafah, warning of a potential humanitarian catastrophe.

Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said Israel's operations in Rafah have set back efforts at trying to reach a ceasefire in talks that are being mediated by Qatar and Egypt, although it would continue to negotiate.

Israel has vowed to press on into Rafah even without the support of allies, saying its operation is necessary to root out four remaining Hamas battalions holed up in the city.

"The tanks advanced this morning west of Salahuddin road into the Brzail and Jneina neighbourhoods. They are in the streets inside the built-up area and there are clashes," one resident told Reuters via a chat app.

Video on social media showed one tank on George Street in the Al-Jneina neighbourhood. Reuters could not verify the video.

Hamas's armed wing said it had destroyed an Israeli troop carrier with an Al-Yassin 105 missile in the eastern Al-Salam neighbourhood, killing some crew members and wounding others.

About 450,000 people were forcibly displaced from the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip amid strikes by the Israeli army, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said in a statement.

"People are in a constant state of fear, facing the threat of exhaustion and hunger. There is no security anywhere. The only hope is an immediate ceasefire," the agency emphasised.