Hamas warned Israel on Sunday that a ground offensive into Gaza's far-southern city of Rafah, crowded with displaced Palestinians, would imperil the release of hostages held by militants in the besieged territory.
Foreign governments, including Israel's key ally the United States, and aid groups have voiced deep concern over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vow to extend operations.
Rafah, on the border with Egypt, has remained the last refuge for Palestinians fleeing Israel's relentless bombardment elsewhere in the Gaza Strip in its four-month war against Hamas, triggered by the group's October 7 attack.
"Any attack by the occupation army on the city of Rafah would torpedo the exchange negotiations," a Hamas leader told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The Israeli premier has told troops to prepare to go into the city which now hosts more than half of Gaza's total population, spurring concern about the impact on displaced civilians.
Netanyahu told US broadcaster ABC News that those who urged Israel not to go into Rafah were effectively giving Hamas licence to remain.
In an interview aired Sunday, Netanyahu insisted the Rafah operation would go ahead "while providing safe passage for the civilian population so they can leave".
Some 1.4 million people have crowded into Rafah, with many living in tents amid increasingly scarce supplies of food, water and medicine.
Mediators have held new talks in Cairo for a pause in the fighting and the release of at least some of the 132 hostages Israel says are still in Gaza, including 29 thought to be dead.
Hamas seized some 250 hostages on October 7, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures, and dozens were released during a one-week truce in November.
Hamas's military wing on Sunday said two hostages had been killed and eight others seriously wounded in Israeli bombardment in recent days, a claim AFP is unable to independently verify.
Israeli strikes have long hit targets in Rafah, and combat on Sunday seemed intense several kilometres (miles) to the north in Khan Yunis city, where AFP correspondents heard regular explosions and saw plumes of black smoke.
Israel's military said troops were conducting "targeted raids" in the west of Khan Yunis, an area where Hamas's armed wing reported violent clashes.
The Hamas-run territory's health ministry on Sunday reported 112 deaths over the previous 24 hours, and Hamas authorities added there had been dozens of air strikes, including on Rafah.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
