Rafah international border gate (Photo: VOV Cairo)

Israel’s tanks were seen in central Rafah on Tuesday for the first time since its military entered Gaza’s southernmost city earlier this month. They arrived two days after a strike on a Rafah camp killed dozens of displaced Palestinians on Sunday and as the international community urged Israel to stop its assault on the city. 

This new operation began just a few days after the International Court of Justice demanded that Israel immediately halt its military assault on Rafah and reopen the Rafah border connecting the Gaza Strip with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

International public opinion strongly condemned the Israeli army's airstrike on the city of Rafah last Sunday, which killed at least 45 civilians, including many children and women.

Many Muslim countries in the Middle East accused Israel of openly defying public opinion and international law by continuing to attack Rafah and other places in Gaza.