The Israeli military is seizing the city of Rafah as part of a new offensive aimed at expanding the buffer zone along the Gaza border, it has been reported. 

If confirmed, it would mark the first time the IDF has taken a major city within its defensive perimeter, essentially creating an Israeli military enclave 3 miles (4.8km) deep into the Strip.

The operation follows heavy aerial bombardments and repeated warnings to civilians to evacuate, although relatively few incidents of fighting on the ground.

Israeli media has reported that defence officials were considering whether to fully demolish all buildings in the southern sector, where Rafah is located.

They have done this in other parts of the buffer zone. A report by the UN Satellite Centre last April estimated that 90 per cent of the buildings within the fortified area had been destroyed or damaged. 

However, this would be the first time an entire Palestinian city would be effectively erased.