At least three Israeli soldiers killed, airstrikes pummel Rafah

Attack on crossing came as hopes dimmed for ceasefire talks underway in Cairo

CAIRO:

Three Israeli soldiers were killed in a rocket attack claimed by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, near the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where Palestinian health officials said at least 19 people were killed by Israeli fire on Sunday.

The resistance group's armed wing claimed responsibility on Sunday for an attack on the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza that Israel said killed three of its soldiers.

Israel's military claimed 10 projectiles were launched from Rafah in southern Gaza towards the area of the crossing, which it said was now closed to aid trucks going into the coastal enclave.

Other crossings remained open.

Hamas' armed wing said it fired rockets at an Israeli army base by the crossing but did not confirm where it fired them from. The resistance group's media quoted a source close to the group as saying the commercial crossing was not the target.

More than a million Palestinians are sheltering in Rafah, near the border with Egypt.

Shortly after the Hamas attack, an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Rafah killing three people and wounding several others, Palestinian medics said.

The Israeli military confirmed the counter-strike, saying it struck the launcher from which the Hamas projectiles were fired, as well as a nearby "military structure".

"The launches carried out by Hamas adjacent to the Rafah Crossing ... are a clear example of the terrorist organisation's systematic exploitation of humanitarian facilities and spaces and their continued use of the Gazan civilian population as human shields," the military alleged.

Just before midnight, an Israeli air strike killed nine Palestinians, including a baby, in another house in Rafah, Gaza health officials said. They said the new strike increased the death toll on Sunday to at least 19 people.

Israel has vowed to enter the southern Gaza City and flush out Hamas freedom fighters there but has faced mounting pressure to hold fire as the operation could derail fragile humanitarian efforts in Gaza and endanger many more lives.

Sunday's attack on the crossing came as hopes dimmed for ceasefire talks underway in Cairo.

The war began after the resistance group stunned Israel with a cross-border raid on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and 252 captives taken, according to Israeli tallies.

In retaliation, Israel besieged Gaza and later invaded the enclave, killing more than 34,600 Palestinians, 29 of them in the past 24 hours, and wounding more than 77,000.