Israel's military killed dozens of people in new attacks in Gaza, Palestinian medics said on Monday, and its forces maintained a blockade of two hospitals where they claim Hamas militants are hiding.
As Israel pressed on with its offensive, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said there was a growing international consensus around telling Israel a ceasefire was needed and that an assault on Rafah would cause a humanitarian disaster.
Rafah, the last refuge for over a million Palestinians on the Gaza Strip's southern border with Egypt, was among cities that came under fire in the latest attacks.
Palestinian medics said 30 people had been killed in the previous 24 hours in Rafah, whose population has been swollen by displaced Palestinians escaping fighting elsewhere in Gaza after more than five months of war.
"Every bombing that takes place in Rafah, we fear the tanks will come in. The past 24 hours were one of the worst days since we moved into Rafah," said Abu Khaled, a father of seven, who declined to give his full name for fear of reprisals.
"In Rafah, we live in fear, we are hungry, we are homeless and our future is unknown. With no ceasefire in sight, we might end up dead or displaced somewhere else, maybe north and maybe south (to Egypt)," he told Reuters via a chat app.
Dozens of Palestinians took part in rallies and attended funerals early on Monday after an Israeli airstrike killed 18 Palestinians in one house in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, the Palestinians medics and witnesses said.
Israeli forces were also besieging Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals in the southern city of Khan Younis, Palestinian witnesses said, a week after entering Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the main hospital in the Strip.