The Israeli military has launched air raids on Rafah in southern Gaza after warning of an imminent ground offensive in the border city where an estimated 1.4 million Palestinians have sought shelter since fleeing attacks across the enclave.
More than four months of relentless attacks by land, air and sea have flattened much of the Gaza Strip, pushing its population of 2.3 million to the brink of famine, according to the United Nations.
International concern has in recent weeks centred on Rafah, where a ground invasion could displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians across the frontier with Egypt.
The last city untouched by Israeli ground troops, Rafah also serves as the main entry point of humanitarian aid via neighbouring Egypt for desperately needed relief supplies.
Israel has warned it will expand its ground operations into Rafah if Palestinian armed group Hamas does not free the remaining captives held in Gaza by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in March.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Thursday that 99 people had been killed across the strip overnight, most of them women, children and elderly people.
The death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza has increased to 29,410 since October 7, the ministry said, adding that at least 69,465 people have been wounded.
Brett McGurk, the White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, was expected to arrive in Israel on Thursday – his second stop in the region after Egypt as part of efforts by the United States to advance a deal that would see the captives exchanged for Palestinian prisoners and to broker a truce.
Matthew Miller, spokesperson of the US Department of State, said Washington was hoping for an “agreement that secures a temporary ceasefire where we can get the hostages out and get humanitarian assistance”, but declined to give details on the ongoing negotiations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted the army will keep fighting until it has destroyed Hamas and freed the remaining captives.