Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip, on Thursday. AP

At least a dozen people were killed in two airstrikes on Friday in central Gaza. Two children and four women were among the dead.

Palestinians in the border city of Rafah have reported heavy fighting in recent days as Israel’s military widened its offensive in the south, seizing control of the entire length of Gaza’s border with Egypt. Fighting in Rafah has spurred more than 1 million Palestinians to flee, most of whom had already been displaced earlier in the war. They now seek refuge in makeshift tent camps and other war-ravaged areas, where they lack shelter, food, water and other essentials for survival, the United Nations says.

Meanwhile, joint British-United States airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed at least 16 people and wounded 42 others, the rebels said on Friday. That’s the highest publicly acknowledged death toll from the multiple rounds of strikes carried out over the rebels’ attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, demanding that Israel end the war in Gaza.

The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.

Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in which the Palestinian group Hamas stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people - mostly civilians - and abducted about 250. Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more.

Associated Press