The Defense Minister signaled his readiness to reopen the Rafah crossing to the White House Middle East Coordinator if such a solution could be found.

Gazan residents told Reuters that Israeli tanks have reached the Mediterranean coast, entirely cutting off Hamas from its above-ground supply lines via Egypt.

American pressure led to the reopening of Rafah crossing to humanitarian aid. Now Israel is looking into withdrawing IDF forces and letting a Palestinian force take over.

According to the IDF, the tunnel was found just 100 meters from the Rafah crossing and contained multiple weapons caches and a number of blast doors.

At a meeting with soldiers at Rafah, Chief of Staff Halevi said that "entirely dismantling Hamas is a national mission of the State of Israel."

12 Likud MKs led by Economy Minister Nir Barkat sent a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu opposing reported plans to hand the Rafah crossing over to Palestinian control.

The source that due to bullets flying in several directions, the security detail on the other side of the border then followed procedures to target the source of the fire. 

For reasons which are still unclear, a firefight broke out between IDF and Egyptian soldiers around Rafah crossing, leaving one Egyptian soldier dead and others wounded.

Israeli and Arab media are both reporting gunfire reported at Rafah crossing.

The Egyptian Foreign Minister made this statement following Foreign Minister Katz's claim that the key to resolving the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was in Egyptian hands.

Minister Katz said he spoke with the British and German Foreign Ministers on the importance of getting Egypt to open the Rafah crossing to aid on the Egyptian side.

The Secretary of State spoke with the Egyptian Foreign Minister, demanding he open the Rafah border crossing to humanitarian aid and added that the flow of aid needed to be expanded both at Rafah and Kerem Shalom.

A senior official in the American administration claimed that Israel wants to enter Rafah even if a ceasefire is implemented.

Some 30 terrorists have been eliminated and many targets hit as the IDF consolidates its limited hold in the Rafah area.

This statement comes on the heels of Prime Minister Netanyahu's statement regarding the purpose of the operation,

Noam Amir, Channel 14's military correspondent, said in an interview on the operation that, "the first day was definitely good."

Regarding Hamas' proposal, the war cabinet member said that "there are significant gaps, a delegation will be sent to Cairo."

Following the attack on Kerem Shalom and the partial breakdown of talks with Hamas, the IDF has launched a limited operation to seize the Rafah crossing into Egypt and attacked terrorists and terror infrastructure.

Colonel Ayman Al-Batniji, who until recently served as spokesman for the Hamas police, managed to escape from the Strip along with his two sons through the Rafah crossing.