Israel may have used “unmanned ground vehicles” to lead its incursion into the west of Rafah city, war monitors report, while “intense gunfire” was heard as Israeli forces pushed deeper into the city’s Centre, forcing civilians to flee.
Palestinian fighters resisting the ground invasion launched attacks in Rafah’s south and centre on Tuesday, including detonating a building rigged with explosives while Israeli soldiers were inside, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP).
According to the latest battlefield report from the US-based defence think tanks, Israel deployed an additional brigade to the Rafah ground invasion on Tuesday, bringing the total involved in the operation to five.
The ISW/CTP also reported on three Israeli brigades operating in the Jabalia refugee camp in the north of Gaza and two brigades in central Gaza on Tuesday.
An Israeli brigade is said to have between 2,000 and 5,000 soldiers, depending on its operational capability and mission.
