International Pressure Mounts on Israel over Rafah Offensive

Israel faced renewed calls from key ally the United States against launching a large-scale attack on Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where nearly 1.5 million Palestinians are trapped.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been driven into Rafah, seeking shelter in a sprawling makeshift encampment near the Egyptian border.

The city now hosts more than half of Gaza's population, with displaced people "crammed" into less than 20 percent of the territory, according to UN humanitarian agency OCHA.

Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand have also urged Israel not to launch a ground offensive in the city.

Israel sent troops into one of the largest medical sites in southern Gaza, saying its forces were hunting for hostages and carrying out a "precise and limited operation" at the facility.

Intense fighting has been reported in recent days between Israeli forces and Hamas militants around Nasser Hospital -- one of the territory's few operational medical facilities.

Israel, which has accused Hamas militants of using hospitals for military purposes, said it was carrying out a "precise and limited operation" at the facility with "no obligation" for patients or staff to evacuate.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said there was "credible intelligence from a number of sources, including released hostages, indicating that Hamas held hostages at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis and that there may be bodies of our hostages" there.

Israeli strikes killed 112 people across the Palestinian territory, the Hamas-run health ministry said.

Israel's army reported the death of another soldier in Gaza, raising the number of soldiers killed in the ground operation to 233.

The health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza reported that thousands of people who had sought refuge in the complex, including patients, have been made to leave in recent days.