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Israel Gaza live updates: IDF says it controls Gaza side of Rafah crossing - BBC News Israel Gaza live updates: IDF says it controls Gaza side of Rafah crossing - BBC News
(32 minutes later)
We've just been getting the latest on the BBC News channel from our reporters in Cairo and Jerusalem. Conflict has continued a day after Hamas accepted truce terms offered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators, which Israel rejected as being far from its "basic requirements". Here's the latest:
Jo Floto, our Middle East Bureau Chief in Jerusalem, says Israel's special forces are currently combing Rafah in search of what they call "terrorist infrastructure". Israel has taken "operational control" of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing - a vital entry point for aid - after striking eastern Rafah overnight, killing 20 Hamas members
Israel has already announced that it has found three tunnels, and these tunnels are key to why the IDF wants to be in this area of Gaza, Floto says. Israel has long suspected that this is the entry point for weaponry and other supplies to militant groups like Hamas, he adds. A senior Israeli official says a team of Israeli negotiators will go to Cairo "in the next few hours" to see whether Hamas can be persuaded to change its latest ceasefire offer
In Cairo, BBC Arabic reporter Abdelbassir Hassan says no officials will confirm whether delegations from Israel or Hamas have arrived for ceasefire negotiations. It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the deal - drawn up by Egyptian mediators - as far from meeting "core demands"
He says that Egypt, a mediator in these negotiations, is showing restraint in its reaction to the development that Israel is now operating right up against its border between the Gaza Strip. Egypt has condemned Israel's control of the Rafah crossing, as has Qatar, another mediator in these talks. Neither want any enlargement of this conflict. The exact terms of the deal Hamas has agreed to have not been confirmed
Hamas says it has fired rockets at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, which was already closed after an earlier Hamas rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers over the weekend
Palestinians are continuing to evacuate after Israel's military warned civilians to leave eastern parts of Rafah ahead of the strikes, with more than 100,000 people affected
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, continues to voice concern over the humanitarian situation, and has warned of the impact diminished aid supplies will have on civilians
Stay with us and we'll continue to bring you live updates, and you can watch live coverage on our BBC News Channel stream by clicking play at the top of this page.
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