30 killed during Israel's continuing ground assault in Rafah

Jerusalem, May 9 (IANS) Israel's army has announced that it is continuing its ground assault on Gaza's Rafah, reporting approximately 30 casualties since the offensive began on Monday night.

According to an army statement issued on Wednesday, the 30 casualties were militants, while Gaza health officials reported about 35 deaths, including a four-month-old baby.

The army said that a tank division and an armoured brigade have been operating on the ground in eastern Rafah, while attack drones carried out strikes from the air, Xinhua news agency reported.

They attacked about 100 "targets" in the region, including militant infrastructure and "suspicious buildings" from which Hamas fighters fired at Israeli soldiers, the army said.

Israel launched the ground assault on Rafah overnight between Monday and Tuesday, citing its aim to eliminate four Hamas battalions that remain in the southern city.

Troops gained "operational control" over the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday, a key entry point for humanitarian aid from Egypt to the famine-stricken Gaza, and shut it down.

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