Rafah offensive: Israel seeks to confront Hamas's last brigades, control border tunnels Israel continues to carry out near-daily air raids on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million has sought refuge from fighting elsewhere, vowing to expand its ground offensive to the city. "Israel still believes it needs to go into Rafah and confront Hamas's last four brigades there," ABC Correspondent Jordana Miller told FRANCE 24. Israel also seeks to control a corridor with many tunnels located on the border with Egypt which it believes is used by Hamas to acquire weapons, Miller said.