Israel pounds central Gaza, deepens invasion of Rafah

Israeli forces pounded areas in the central Gaza Strip overnight, killing three people and wounding dozens of others, according to medics, while tanks deepened their invasion into Rafah in the south, residents said.Israeli planes struck a house in Al-Nuseirat camp, killing two people and wounding 12 others, while tanks shelled areas in Al-Maghazi and Al-Bureij camps, wounding many other people, health officials said. Nuseirat, Maghazi, and Bureij are three of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps.In Deir al-Balah, a city packed with displaced people in the central Gaza Strip, an Israeli air strike killed one Palestinian and wounded several others yesterday.The Israeli military said on Wednesday forces were continuing their operations across the enclave targeting militants and military infrastructure in what it described as "precise, intelligence-based" activities.More than eight months into the war in Gaza, Israel's advance is now focused on the two last areas its forces had yet to storm: Rafah on Gaza's southern edge and the area surrounding Deir al-Balah in the centre.In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, Israeli tanks stationed deep in the western and central areas of the city stepped up bombardment, forcing more families living in the far coastal areas to flee northward. Some residents said the pace of the raid has been accelerated in the past two days.There has been no sign of let-up in the fighting as efforts by international mediators, backed by the US, have failed to persuade Israel and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire.************Massacre toll at 37,431The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said yesterday that at least 37,431 people have been killed in the territory during more than eight months of war between Israel and Palestinian resistance movement Hamas. The toll includes at least 35 deaths since Wednesday , a ministry statement said, adding 85,653 people had been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7.***********************Israel-Hezbollahtensions drivewider war fearsFears of a regional war rose yesterday after Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement said none of Israel would be spared in a full-blown conflict, and Israel said it had approved plans for a Lebanon offensive. Hezbollah said it fired dozens of rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for a deadly air strike in south Lebanon that Israel said killed a Hezbollah operative. In a televised address, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said "no place" in Israel would "be spared by our rockets" if a wider war began.