Clashes have rocked the densely crowded far-southern city of Rafah but also flared again in northern and central Gaza, months after troops and tanks first entered those areas, AFP reports.

The United States has repeatedly urged a Gaza ceasefire and called on its ally Israel to devise “a strategic endgame” and post-war plan, said White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

This would help Israel avoid “getting mired in a counterinsurgency campaign that never ends and ultimately saps Israel’s strength and vitality,” Sullivan told a briefing in Washington.

Recent battles and heavy Israeli bombardments have been reported around Rafah as well as in Gaza City and Jabalia refugee camp in the north and Nuseirat camp in the centre.