IDF-Hamas Street Battles In Gaza, Israel Defends Rafah Assault As "Precise", US Warns Of "Anarchy"

Israel stepped up its bombardment on the eastern areas of the Rafah city of Gaza, killing people in an airstrike on a house in the Brazil neighbourhood. Residents claim Israeli tanks have cut off the Salahuddin Road that bisects the eastern part of Rafah, which remains a "ghost town”. Israeli tanks, under cover of heavy fire from air and ground, pushed further into Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 13. The armed wing of Hamas said its fighters were engaged in gun battles with Israeli forces in one of the streets east of Rafah, and in the east of Jabalia. Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that an all-out Israeli offensive on Rafah would provoke "anarchy" without eliminating Hamas.