GAZA, May 15 – Israeli tanks on Tuesday marched towards the center of Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, as tens of thousands of residents fled to evade an Israeli ground offensive, a local source reported.
The source told Xinhua that the tanks had reached the Al-Geneina neighborhood and were advancing towards the city center “amid heavy gunfire.”
Nearly 450,000 people have been forcibly displaced from Rafah since May 6, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said in a statement on Tuesday.
“People face constant exhaustion, hunger and fear. Nowhere is safe. An immediate ceasefire is the only hope”, the statement added. ■
