Fierce battles rage across Gaza as US calls for post-war plan
International
Israeli troops fought Hamas militants in multiple battles across the Gaza Strip, forcing new waves of Palestinian mass displacement as Israel marked a sombre Independence Day on Tuesday.
Clashes have rocked the densely crowded far-southern city of Rafah but also flared again in northern and central Gaza, months after troops and tanks first entered those areas.
The United States has urged Hamas to accept a Gaza truce plan and called on Israel to devise "a strategic endgame" and post-war plan, said White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
This would help Israel avoid "getting mired in a counterinsurgency campaign that never ends and ultimately saps Israel's strength and vitality," Sullivan said on Monday.
Israel last week defied a chorus of warnings -- including from top ally Washington which paused a shipment of bombs -- and sent tanks and troops into the east of Rafah to pursue militants.
At the same time, fighting has flared in north Gaza four months after the army said Hamas's command structure there had been dismantled, and six months after Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Hamas had "lost control" of Gaza.
Recent battles and heavy Israeli bombardments have been reported around Rafah as well as in Gaza City and Jabalia refugee camp in the north and Nuseirat camp in the centre.
