Israeli forces bombed areas in the southern border town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, where more than half of the town's population had taken refuge, the agencies reported.
The attacks came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a proposal to end the war against Hamas.
Israeli planes bombed areas in Rafah.
Tanks shelled certain areas in the eastern part of the city, increasing residents' fear of an imminent ground attack, reports Radio Free Europe.
In Rafah, the target of the attack was the Tel al Sultan neighborhood.
Humanitarian agencies have warned of a humanitarian disaster if Israel fulfills its threat and enters one of the remaining areas of the Gaza Strip that Israeli troops have not yet entered during the ground offensive.
Israel says it is taking steps to avoid civilian casualties and accuses Hamas militants of hiding among civilians, including in school shelters and hospitals, leading to more civilian deaths. Hamas denied this.
(MINE)
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned today that it is a war crime to destroy all the buildings along the border inside the Gaza Strip in order for Israel to create a "buffer zone".
In the statement, Turk referred to reports that the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip is destroying all buildings within one kilometer of the border fence.
"I emphasize to the Israeli authorities that Article 35 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the destruction of private property by a foreign occupying power, except when such destruction is absolutely necessary for war operations," Turk said.
He warned that it follows that under international humanitarian law, the creation of a "buffer zone" for security purposes does not comply with that exemption.
The High Commissioner added that "the widespread destruction of property is not justified by military needs, is carried out illegally and recklessly, and is a serious violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a war crime."
The war broke out after the attack by Hamas from Gaza to the south of Israel, in which about 1.140 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
Israel then pledged to destroy Hamas and launched airstrikes and a ground offensive. At least 27.840 people died, mostly women, children and other young people, according to the ministry in Gaza.
The high commissioner said that since October, his office had recorded "widespread destruction and demolition of civilian and other infrastructure".
This includes "residential buildings, schools and universities in areas where there has been no or no more fighting".
He said this was seen in Beit Hanun and Gaza City in the north of the besieged Palestinian territory and in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, where many residential buildings were demolished, and in Khan Yunis in the south in recent weeks.
"Such destruction of homes and other key civilian infrastructure also implies the displacement of communities that lived in those areas before the escalation of hostilities," he said, assessing that Israel's goal seems to be to prevent the return of civilians.
"I remind the authorities that the forced transfer of civilians can constitute a war crime," Turk said.
(BETA)
International concern is growing ahead of an expected Israeli ground attack on Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, near the border with Egypt where many Palestinians have taken refuge from the conflict in the small Palestinian enclave.
Rafah was once home to 280.000 people, now half of Gaza's total population of 2,3 million, faced with the terrifying choice of staying and waiting for an attack or risking a return north through an area where fighting has not stopped.
A million people are in tents and makeshift shelters, and satellite images show that such settlements are expanding more and more.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the focus of Israel's ground offensive would soon shift to Rafah.
"Our soldiers are now in Khan Younis, the main stronghold of Hamas. They will soon go to Rafah, the last bastion of Hamas," Netanyahu said on Wednesday.
Israeli jets bombed Rafah this morning, killing at least 11 people in strikes on two houses, witnesses told Reuters.
Tanks targeted some areas east of Rafah, raising fears among residents that a ground attack was imminent.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that entering Rafah would "exacerbate what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences".
Aid agencies have also warned of a humanitarian disaster if Israel follows through on its threat to enter one of the last areas in the Gaza Strip where ground forces have not entered.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has warned Israel against expanding military operations in the Rafah, saying it would be "fatal for displaced civilians and humanitarian aid," CNN reported.
"The spread of hostilities could turn Rafah into a zone of bloodshed and destruction from which people will not be able to escape. There is nowhere for people to run," said NRV director for the Middle East and North Africa, Angelita Kereda.
Egyptian officials have also warned of the dangers of the operation in Rafah, and are particularly concerned that a large number of Gazans could be displaced on their land.
"There is no doubt that targeting this area of the Strip, which is full of civilians, is dangerous," said Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid in an interview with Al Ghad TV.
(BETA)
A senior official of the Lebanon-based Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas said today that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's continued war in Gaza shows his aim is to commit "genocide" against Palestinians.
"(Mr Netanyahu's) insistence on continued aggression fully confirms that the aim of the aggression against Gaza is the genocide of the Palestinian people," Osama Hamdan told a news conference in Beirut.
"We will do everything possible to protect our people, either through resistance on the ground or through political efforts to end the aggression," Hamdan added.
(BETA)
Bonus video:
