Terrorist Israel intensifies strikes on Gaza's border city of Rafah, martyrs toll at 27,840

GAZA, Palestine (Reuters) - Israeli forces bombed areas in the southern border city of Rafah where more than half of Gaza's population is sheltering on Thursday, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a proposal to end the war in the Palestinian enclave.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said at least 27,840 people have been martyred in the territory during the war between Palestinian militants and Israel. The latest toll includes 130 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, while a total of 67,317 people have been wounded in Gaza since the war broke out on October 7.

Aid agencies have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if Israel follows through on its threat to enter one of the last remaining areas of the Gaza Strip that its troops have not moved into during its ground offensive.

Israeli planes bombed areas in Rafah on Thursday morning, residents said, killing at least 11 people in strikes on two houses. Tanks also shelled some areas in eastern Rafah, intensifying the residents' fears of an imminent ground assault. "We have our backs to the (border) fence and faces toward the Mediterranean. Where should we go?” said Emad, 55, a displaced person who is a father of six.

"There is no place to go. One million people and more than one million are asking this question today; where shall we go?” Emad told Reuters via a chat app.

PALESTINIAN JOURNALIST KILLED

The Israeli bombardment continued in Khan Younis and Deir-Al-Balah in central Gaza overnight, killing a Palestinian television journalist, Nafez Abdel-Jawwad, and his son. In the only truce to date, lasting a week at the end of November, 110 hostages were released and Israel freed 240 Palestinian prisoners.