All Eyes On Rafah: What's Happening In Gaza City As Israel Steps Up Assault

In the latest bloodshed, Israeli shelling and airstrikes killed at least 45 people, most of them sheltering in tents, in the southern Gaza city of Rafah over the last couple of days.

Israel launched the attack on Rafah late Sunday, hours after Hamas unleashed a barrage of rockets at the Tel Aviv area, most of which were intercepted.

Israeli forces pressed their assault on the border town - once seen as the territory's last refuge - despite an order last week from the top UN court to halt its operation there.

All Eyes On Rafah

'All eyes on Rafah' is a phrase that refers to the ongoing genocide in this Gaza city. 

Rafah was a major entry point for humanitarian aid before Israel stepped up its military offensive on the Gaza side of the border earlier this month and seized control of the crossing.

Fighting in Rafah has caused more than 1 million Palestinians to flee, most of whom had already been displaced in the war between Israel and Hamas.

Palestinians say they are vulnerable to Israeli attacks wherever they go and have been moving up and down the Gaza Strip in the past few months.

When Israeli forces told those in the north to evacuate, before conducting operations in central Gaza and the southern city of Khan Yunis, hundreds of thousands had fled south to Rafah.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said in a statement that Israeli shelling in and around health facilities in Rafah has left just one still operational.

Humanitarian groups warn of a spiraling crisis in Gaza after the fighting in Rafah cut off the main aid routes into the territory.

Israel's Long-Threatened Rafah Incursion

Rafah offensive stirred renewed outrage and prompted an outcry from global leaders. Israel, however, vowed to press on with the Rafah strike despite the global condemnation and a US warning.

Gaza security officers said that Israeli tanks were now also "in central and southwest Rafah".

The US faces growing pressure to take a firmer stance after a deadly strike in the Gazan city.

Questions are mounting over how long President Joe Biden can tolerate an Israeli assault on Rafah when the International Court of Justice -- the UN's top court, of which both the US and Israel are members -- ordered it to stop.

The war in Gaza began after Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,096 people in Gaza.