Israel’s ground invasion of Rafah: Live updates

13:37 GMT

Israeli tanks captured the main road between the eastern and western parts of Rafah on Friday, thus encircling the entire eastern side of the city, Reuters reports. The IDF’s advance to Salahuddin road has completed the siege of the red zone, an area where the military has ordered an evacuation. Hamas has said it attacked Israeli tanks near a mosque in the east of Rafah.

“It is not safe, all of Rafah isn’t safe as tank shells have landed everywhere, since yesterday,” Abu Hassan, a local resident, told the news agency, adding that the Israeli army targets not only the east but the whole city.
13:33 GMT

A large-scale Israeli ground offensive in Rafah would lead to an “epic humanitarian disaster,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Friday during a visit to Kenya. The situation in the Gazan city is “on a knife edge” and such an operation would prevent the organization’s efforts to support people as “famine looms,” he added.

“We are actively engaged with all involved for the resumption of the entry of life-saving supplies – including desperately needed fuel – through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings,” he said.

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, an 1887 painting by Viktor Vasnetsov. From left to right are Death, Famine, War, and Conquest; the Lamb is at the top. (credit: Wikimedia Commons)