Gaza: hundreds of thousands flee Rafah as Israel ramps up attacks

Israeli forces have reached the middle of Rafah in theircontinuing assault on the southern city in Gaza.International pressure on Israel has deepened, withthree European countries formally recognising aPalestinian state and the UN security council calling anemergency meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza.Israeli forces again attacked the Tel al-Sultan area,where at least 45 people were killed by an airstrike andhuge fire in an area crowded with refugee tents.Twenty-one people were killed in the latest strike, morethan half of them women, according to authorities inGaza. About 1 million people have fled Rafah sinceearly May and hundreds of thousands are stillsheltering there, close to the border with Egypt