Israel has defeated the Hamas brigade in the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday during a visit to the border area between Gaza and Egypt.
"The [Hamas] Rafah brigade has been defeated, and over 150 tunnels have been destroyed in the region," he said. He had instructed the troops to concentrate on destroying the remaining tunnels on the border between the coastal strip and Egypt in the coming period.
Israel had advanced to Rafah in May, despite massive international criticism, in order to destroy the remaining forces of the Palestinian militant organization there. An estimated 1 million refugees had crowded into the city, but have since left.
The Israeli troops also captured the Rafah border crossing to Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor. This 14-kilometres-long area is considered one of the biggest points of contention in the negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire.
Hamas is demanding Israel's complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, insists that Israel must continue to control the corridor even after a ceasefire in order to prevent weapons smuggling.
Biden urges ceasefire in call with Netanyahu
US President Joe Biden reiterated his calls for a ceasefire in a call with Netanyahu on Wednesday, the White House said.
The US president had "stressed the urgency of bringing the ceasefire and hostage release deal to closure and discussed upcoming talks in Cairo to remove any remaining obstacles," a statement said.
Egypt, Qatar and the US are mediating the talks between Israel and Hamas.
Biden and Netanyahu had also discussed "active and ongoing" US efforts to support Israel's defence.
Israel is bracing itself for an attack following the killings within days of two leading Israeli opponents in recent weeks: a Hezbollah commander in Beirut and the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran.
Residents in section of Gaza humanitarian zone told to flee
Earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli army called on Palestinians inside a small section of the humanitarian zone in the central Gaza Strip to flee ahead of a new military operation there.
Israeli troops will "act forcefully against the terrorist organizations" in the the humanitarian zone located in Gaza's Deir al-Balah area, Avichay Adraee, an Arabic-language spokesman for the military, wrote on social media.
The Israeli-designated humanitarian zone has already been reduced in size as ground operations by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) against Hamas militants evolve.
Israeli media reports the zone is currently 42 square kilometres in size, which corresponds to a total area of 11% of the Gaza Strip.
Aid organizations describe the living conditions in the area, where the majority of Gaza's population currently resides, as catastrophic.
The Hamas-controlled health authority said on Wednesday that 50 Palestinians had died and 124 others had been injured in the fighting in the Gaza Strip over the previous day.
By its tally, the number of people killed in the territory since the beginning of the war more than 10 months ago stands at 40,223, with at least 92,981 other Palestinians injured in the same period.
The figures cannot be independently verified. They also do not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
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