DUBAI, February 16. /TASS/. At least 11 people were killed as a result of shelling by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of residential neighborhoods in the city of Rafah in the southern end of the Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt, Al Jazeera television reports.

According to Palestinian news agency WAFA, in particular, seven Palestinians became fatalities of the Israeli shelling of the Al Nasr neighborhood, located in the eastern part of the city, while several more local residents were wounded.

On February 7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the IDF had been ordered to prepare for the start of fighting in Rafah on the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt. Two days later, he instructed the IDF to prepare a plan to evacuate civilians and eliminate the remaining four Hamas battalions in the city.

The situation in the Middle East escalated sharply after the surprise incursion by Gaza Strip-based militants of radical Palestinian movement Hamas into Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, accompanied by the killing of residents of border settlements and hostage-taking. In response, Israel declared a complete blockade of Gaza and began strikes against the Strip and parts of Lebanon and Syria before launching a ground operation in the enclave. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.