The municipality in Gaza’s Rafah has said thousands of people were trapped inside the Tel Al-Sultan area, where the Israeli military had sent some of its forces, Reuters reports.

“Contacts with the neighbourhood are cut off completely and the fate of (people) is unknown. Families are trapped among the ruins, with no water, no food, no medicine, amid a total collapse of healthcare services,” it said in a statement.

The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service has said 50,000 residents remain trapped in Rafah.