Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 22 Palestinians on Tuesday, medics said, as Israeli forces continued their assault on Rafah, near the border with Egypt.
The violence in Gaza came as fighting intensified between Israel and Hezbollah across Israel's border with Lebanon - a parallel conflict that had stoked fears of an all-out war in the Middle East.
Israeli tanks advanced in the northern and western areas of Rafah, battling fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, according to residents and a statement published by the two Palestinian groups.
Residents said the Israeli army blew up several homes in eastern and central areas of the city.
The armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad said fighters attacked the invading forces with anti-tank rockets, detonated already planted bombs and mortar fire.
Palestinian health officials said 22 people were killed in several Israeli airstrikes in the central and southern Gaza Strip. In one of the strikes, six Palestinians were killed, including three women, in a house in Nuseirat, one of the territory's eight historic refugee camps, they said.
Most of Gaza's 2.3 million have been displaced in nearly a year of warfare as Israeli air and artillery strikes have reduced much of the Palestinian enclave to rubble.
Over 41,400 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli assault, according to the Gaza health ministry.
In Washington, US President Joe Biden was determined to bring about a Gaza ceasefire and captive deal with Hamas while also seeking to de-escalate tensions on Israel's border with Lebanon, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday.
"He absolutely hasn't given up," Sullivan said in an interview with MSNBC hours before Biden was due to address the UN General Assembly for the last time as president.
(Reuters)