Israeli forces have hit areas in the central Gaza Strip, killing at least nine Palestinians, according to health officials, while Israeli tanks carried out a limited advance further into Rafah in the south.
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Over the past 24 hours, Israeli strikes have killed at least 81 Palestinians and wounded 198, the Gaza health ministry said. The ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its casualty count.
In Rafah, where medics said two people were killed in an airstrike, tanks carried out a raid in the north of the city before pulling back, a tactic Israeli forces have used in other areas before mounting deeper incursions.
The Israeli military said troops were "continuing precise, intelligence-based operational activity in the Rafah area". It said they had eliminated what it called a terrorist cell and a launcher that had been used to fire at troops.
It said airstrikes had struck 25 targets throughout the Gaza Strip during the past day and troops were continuing to operate in the central area, in part to dismantle structures used to observe the soldiers.
Nine months into the war, Palestinian fighters led by the Islamist Hamas group are still able to attack Israeli forces with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs, occasionally firing barrages of rockets into Israel.
Israel's defence minister said the military had made significant gains and the pressure was working.
"Operations in Gaza have led to the conditions necessary to achieve an agreement for the return of hostages," Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in an overnight call with his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin.
Israel vowed to eradicate Hamas after its militants killed 1200 people and took more than 250 hostage in an attack on October 7, according to Israeli tallies.
On Tuesday, the military said it had eliminated half the leadership of Hamas' military wing and killed or captured about 14,000 fighters since the start of the war, around half the fighting force estimated by the Israeli military.
At least 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's retaliatory offensive since then, Gaza health authorities say. Israel says 326 of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza.
The US military said on Wednesday it was ending its mission to operate a temporary floating pier to bring humanitarian aid by ship to Gaza, which is facing famine. The effort will now shift to the Israeli port of Ashdod.
The pier helped deliver 20 million pounds of aid to Gaza but only operated about 20 days due to weather disruptions.
Diplomatic efforts by Arab mediators to halt the hostilities, backed by the US, appear on hold, though all sides say they are open to more talks, including Israel and Hamas.
Foreign leaders including US President Joe Biden have urged that an end to fighting in Gaza lead to a post-war plan with a firm timeline for establishing a Palestinian state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and right-wing parties are against this two-state solution.
On Wednesday, Israel's parliament, the Knesset, passed a statement of opposition to establishment of a Palestinian state 68-9, saying it would pose an existential danger to Israel and perpetuate Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Also on Wednesday, Israel released 13 Palestinians detained during the offensive in Gaza, the Palestinian Red Crescent said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch, which has repeatedly accused Israel's military of war crimes during its campaign in Gaza, issued a 252-page report on the October 7 attack.
The organisation accused Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades, and at least four other Palestinian armed groups of committing "numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity" during the assault.
These included "deliberate and indiscriminate attacks" against civilians, inhumane treatment and wilful killing of captives, sexual and gender-based violence, hostage-taking, mutilation of bodies, use of human shields and looting.
Hamas rejected the report as containing "lies and blatant bias" and demanded Human Rights Watch withdraw it and apologise.
Australian Associated Press
