Israel pounds central Gaza, sends tanks deeper into Rafah

CAIRO Israeli forces pounded areas in the central Gaza Strip on July 17, killing at least nine Palestinians, according to health officials, while Israeli tanks carried out a limited advance farther into Rafah in the south.

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In one Israeli air strike around midnight on a house in Al-Zawayda in the central Gaza Strip, eight people were killed, the health officials said.

Another strike killed a man in Nuseirat camp, one of the enclave's eight refugee camps, where 23 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a school a day before.

Israeli tanks also shelled the eastern areas of Al-Bureij and AlMaghazi camps in the centre of the enclave, residents said. An air strike destroyed a mosque, they added.

Meanwhile, in Rafah, tanks carried out a raid in the north of the city before retreating, a tactic Israeli forces have used in other areas before mounting deeper incursions.

Tanks have operated in most parts of the city since May, although they have not gone deep into the northern districts.

Medics said an Israeli strike killed two people in Rafah on July 17, while residents said the forces had blown up dozens of homes.