Heavy fighting in Gaza's Rafah keeps aid crossings closed, sends 110,000 civilians fleeing

The U.N. says heavy fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants in the southern Gaza city of Rafah has left crucial nearby aid crossings inaccessible and caused over 110,000 people to flee north. With nothing entering through the crossings, the World Food Program will run out of food for distribution in southern Gaza by Saturday, a U.N. official said. The United States is deeply opposed to Israel's plans for a full-scale invasion of Rafah and is stepping up pressure by threatening to withhold arms. Even the more limited incursion launched earlier this week threatens to worsen Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe. Heavy fighting was also underway in northern Gaza, where Hamas appears to have once again regrouped in an area where Israel had already launched punishing assaults.