Israel pushes deeper into Gaza as Hamas regroups in areas cleared months ago

Palestinians mourn a relative killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip (Saher Alghorra/AP)

Israeli forces are battling Palestinian militants across the Gaza Strip, including in parts of the devastated north that the military said it had cleared months ago after Hamas exploited a security vacuum to regroup.

Israel has portrayed the southern Gaza city of Rafah as Hamas’s last stronghold, saying it must invade in order to succeed in its goals of dismantling the group and returning scores of hostages.