JERUSALEM/GAZA/CAIRO – Israel's military said on Tuesday that it had started "a precise counterterrorism operation" in Rafah city in the south of the Gaza Strip and assumed "operational control" over the Rafah crossing in Gaza.

The crossing, which has served as a passage for humanitarian aid from Egypt to war-torn Gaza, was out of service.

Since the beginning of the assault overnight Monday, Israel said it has taken control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing, with the Israeli forces killing at least 20 militants.

Israel targeted at least four residential buildings in Rafah, injuring dozens of people, according to the report, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said in a press statement on Tuesday that their militants "attacked Israeli soldiers stationed around the Rafah crossing".

Israeli forces attacked the Rafah city from the ground and air, the military said, as residents reported heavy and relentless bombardments. The military said it had struck "military structures, underground infrastructure, and three operational tunnel shafts."

Palestinian sources confirmed Xinhua that Israeli tanks stormed the Rafah border crossing and Israeli forces have taken control of it, preventing Palestinians from moving through the crossing.

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"The movement of travelers and humanitarian aid has stopped in both the Rafah border crossing and Kerem Shalom," the General Authority for Crossings and Borders in Gaza said in a brief statement sent to Xinhua.

On Monday night, Israel's military said it was carrying out large-scale airstrikes in Rafah, hours after Hamas announced acceptance of an Egyptian-Qatari proposal regarding a ceasefire in the strip

The Israeli army shared videos showing a tank storming the area of the border. Meanwhile, other pictures released on social media platforms showed an Israeli flag being raised at the entrance of the Rafah border.

The Rafah border crossing is the only outlet for more than 2.3 million Palestinians in the war-torn besieged coastal enclave.

Earlier on Monday night, Israel's military said it was carrying out large-scale airstrikes in Rafah, hours after Hamas announced acceptance of an Egyptian-Qatari proposal regarding a ceasefire in the strip.

Egypt informed the Palestinian side that Israel's security operation in the vicinity of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing would end on Tuesday morning, a high-ranking security official told Xinhua.

"Egypt has inquired about the Israeli incursion in the vicinity of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, the only link between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, and Israel responded that the operation will end on Tuesday morning," the source said on condition of anonymity.

Crossing closed for aid, individual passage

The Rafah crossing is closed for aid and individual passage indefinitely after an Israeli military operation close by from the Palestinian side early Tuesday, a high-ranking security source told Xinhua.

Bombing and strikes have not stopped in the eastern area of the Palestinian city Rafah that accommodates the crossing, and all workers in the crossing have left amid direct targeting by the Israeli forces, the source said on condition of anonymity because he was unauthorized to speak to the media.

"The movement of passengers and delivery of aid completely stopped to the Gaza Strip since yesterday evening," the source added.

He believed that the Israeli operation in search of Hamas tunnels and Israeli hostages might take a few days.

Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV channel reported that Israeli tanks stood at a close distance from the crossing in southern Gaza.

"Three Israeli tanks are positioned 200 meters far from the crossing and bombarded the crossing wall. Meanwhile, sounds of firing and strikes were heard near the crossing."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, meanwhile, said the ceasefire proposal is far from meeting Israel's "core demands", and that the government will send a delegation to Cairo to exhaust every possibility of reaching an agreement acceptable to Israel.

Also, a Qatari delegation will head to Cairo on Tuesday for indirect negotiations on the Gaza truce between Israel and Hamas through mediators, according to a spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry.

Hamas nods to Gaza truce proposal

Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh has told the Egyptian and Qatari sides that his movement approved their proposal regarding a ceasefire in Gaza, the Gaza-ruling Palestinian faction said in a statement on Monday.

"We agreed on the proposal that meets our demands of ceasing fire, reconstructing the strip, the return of the displaced to their areas of residence, and a deal on a prisoner swap," the statement said.

Immediately after Hamas's announcement, joy spread in the streets and shelters of the coastal enclave.

According to an Egyptian security source on Monday, a Hamas delegation has headed to Cairo to work on the enforcement of the Egyptian proposal.

The source said the first phase involved a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the "Netzarim axis", a zone in central Gaza that separates the northern and southern Palestinian enclave, as well as the free movement of displaced persons from south to north Gaza

The source said Egypt has informed the Israeli side of Hamas's acceptance of the Egyptian proposal, adding that the Israeli delegation will arrive in Cairo on Tuesday to complete discussions on the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire proposal and a hostage-for-prisoner swap deal at the invitation of Egypt.

A Hamas source told Xinhua that the Gaza ceasefire proposal presented by Egypt and Qatar includes three phases, each lasting 42 days.

The source said the first phase involved a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the "Netzarim axis", a zone in central Gaza that separates the northern and southern Palestinian enclave, as well as the free movement of displaced persons from south to north Gaza.

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Also, this phase would bring out a 10-hour daily cessation of Israeli airstrikes and a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, as well as the release of approximately 33 Israeli hostages in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, the source added.

The second phase features an agreement on restoring a "sustainable calm" to Gaza, with a complete withdrawal of most Israeli forces from the coastal area, while, during the third phase, the complete blockade on the strip would be lifted.

The source emphasized that "the ball is now in the Israeli side's court", noting that the United States is committed to ensuring the agreement's implementation.

Israel advances Rafah attack plan

Also on Monday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman Daniel Hagari said Israel was reviewing "seriously" the proposal earlier approved by Hamas.

"We are examining every response and answer very seriously, exploring every possibility regarding the issues of negotiations and the return of hostages," Hagari said at a press briefing.

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However, the Israeli army was in parallel conducting large-scale airstrikes in Rafah, where about 1.2 million people uprooted by the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict have been seeking refuge.

"The IDF is currently conducting targeted strikes against Hamas terror targets in eastern Rafah in southern Gaza," the Israeli military said in a statement.

The attack came after the military announced in the morning the beginning of the evacuation of civilians from eastern Rafah "as part of the preparation for a ground operation in the region", Hagari said.

Egypt has informed the Palestinian side that Israel's security operation in the vicinity of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing will end on Tuesday morning, a security high-rank official told Xinhua

The Israeli war cabinet unanimously decided on Monday to continue the operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas to promote the release of Israeli hostages and to achieve other goals of the war, according to a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office.

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The statement confirmed that the proposal approved by Hamas is far from meeting Israel's "core demands" and Israel will send a delegation to Cairo to exhaust every possibility of reaching an agreement acceptable to Israel.

Israel has launched a large-scale offensive against Gaza since Oct 7, 2023, after Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and the kidnapping of around 250 others, according to Israeli official figures.

READ MORE: US Defense Secretary says there was no indication Hamas planning attack on US troops

Israel estimated that there were still about 134 Israelis held hostage in Gaza, whereas Hamas announced that 70 of them had been killed in Israeli indiscriminate airstrikes.

On Monday night, people in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv took to the streets, rallying to demand the immediate release of the hostages.

Currently, the bloody conflict in Gaza has killed more than 34,600 Palestinians and injured over 78,000 others, according to the Hamas-run health authorities.

Cairo, Doha, and Washington are seeking to reach a deal for a prisoner exchange and a second ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, following the first one that ended in late November 2023.