Gaza: hundreds of thousands flee Rafah as Israel ramps up attacks

Israeli forces have reached the middle of Rafah in their continuing assault on the southern city in Gaza. International pressure on Israel has deepened, with three European countries formally recognising a Palestinian state and the UN security council calling an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza. Israeli forces again attacked the Tel al-Sultan area, where at least 45 people were killed by an airstrike and huge fire in an area crowded with refugee tents. Twenty-one people were killed in the latest strike, more than half of them women, according to authorities in Gaza. About 1 million people have fled Rafah since early May and hundreds of thousands are still sheltering there, close to the border with Egypt