A Palestinian child wounded in an Israeli bombardment on a residential building in Bureij refugee camp, is brought to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, central Gaza Strip, June, 2024. AP
The news agency added that Israeli tanks advanced deeper into the western area of Rafah.
The Israeli forces thrust towards the Al-Mawasi area of Rafah near the beach, which is designated as a humanitarian area in all announcements and maps published by the Israeli army since it began its Rafah offensive in May, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing residents.
Residents said Israeli attacks forced many families to flee their homes and tents in the dark.
"There was very intense fire from warplanes, Apaches (helicopters) and quadcopters, in addition to Israeli artillery and military battleships, all of which were striking the area west of Rafah," a resident told AFP.
The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said its fighters were battling Israeli troops on the streets of the same area.
Along with the fighting in Rafah, an AFP correspondent on Thursday reported overnight strikes and shelling elsewhere in the coastal territory.
Gaza's civil defence agency said three bodies were recovered from a home in Nuseirat, central Gaza, after an Israeli strike.
In central Gaza's Bureij refugee camp, resident Ahmed al-Rubi said he wanted an end to the "severe suffering we are going through".
"I hope for a ceasefire," he told AFP. "What has happened to us is enough."
Israel killed almost 37,232 people, mostly women and children, and wounded 85,037 others, since it began its ruthless war on Gaza on 7 October.
A UN investigation concluded Wednesday that Israel had committed crimes against humanity and war crimes during the Gaza war.
The independent Commission of Inquiry's report is the first in-depth investigation by UN experts into Gaza's bloodiest-ever war.
The war has led to widespread destruction of homes and other infrastructure, with hospitals out of service and the UN warning of famine.
The World Health Organization said more than 8,000 children aged younger than five have been treated for acute malnutrition in Gaza, where only two stabilisation centres for severely malnourished patients currently operate.
"Despite reports of increased delivery of food, there is currently no evidence that those who need it most are receiving sufficient quantity and quality of food," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
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