Israel claims control of corridor

RAFAH/JERUSALEM — Rafah residents reported intense artillery shelling and gunfire on Thursday in Gaza's far-southern city as Israel said it had seized a strategic corridor on the Palestinian territory's border with Egypt.

The Israeli military launched its assault in Rafah in early May despite international concerns over the fate of Palestinian civilians sheltering there.

A strike over the weekend that started a fire and killed dozens in a displacement camp drew a wave of fresh condemnation, including a social media campaign with the slogan "All eyes on Rafah" that has been shared by tens of millions of users.

Israel said on Wednesday its forces had taken over the 14-kilometer Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border, which it suspects was used for smuggling weapons.

Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced Israel had taken "operational control" of the narrow border area, where he said troops had "discovered around 20 tunnels".

Artillery and gunfire were seen in Gaza City's southern neighborhood of Zeitun, in the territory's north, where witnesses saw thick plumes of smoke rising over Jabalia refugee camp and Beit Lahia, Agence France-Presse reported.

A steady stream of civilians have fled Rafah, carrying their belongings on their shoulders, in cars or on donkey-drawn carts.

The conflict has already devastated Gaza's landscape. Before the Rafah offensive began, the United Nations said up to 1.4 million people were sheltering there. Since then, 1 million have fled the area, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has said.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society reported late on Wednesday that two of its paramedics "were killed as a result of the Israeli occupation's direct bombing" of an ambulance near Rafah.

The United Nations, which has warned of famine in Gaza, said on Wednesday the amount of humanitarian aid entering the enclave has dropped by two-thirds since Israel began its military operation in Rafah this month.

"The amount of food and other aid entering Gaza, already insufficient to meet the soaring needs, has further shrunk since 7 May," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

A daily average of 58 aid trucks reached Gaza from May 7 to Tuesday, compared with a daily average of 176 aid trucks from April 1 to May 6, it said, a drop of 67 percent. It said those figures excluded private sector cargo and fuel.

Not enough assistance

The UN has long said at least 500 trucks a day of aid and commercial goods need to enter Gaza.

The weekend Israeli strike and ensuing fire, which tore through the camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah, killed 45 people, according to Gaza officials and has prompted two days of discussions at the UN Security Council.

In the wake of the strike, Algeria presented a draft UN resolution that "demands an immediate cease-fire respected by all parties" and the release of all hostages.

The conflict started when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct 7, which killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,224 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry on Thursday.

Israel's National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said the conflict could go on until the year's end.

Meanwhile, Brazil withdrew its ambassador to Israel on Wednesday, according to Brazil's official gazette.

Israel's foreign ministry said no official message has yet been received from the Brazilian government on the matter.

Brazil has appointed its recalled ambassador to Israel, Frederico Meyer, as the country's special representative to the United Nations Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.

According to the federal government bulletin released on Wednesday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed Meyer's new appointment on Tuesday.

Brazil recalled its ambassador to Israel in February after a diplomatic row erupted between the two countries due to the conflict in Gaza. Since then, the position of Brazil's ambassador to Israel has remained vacant.

Agencies - Xinhua