The crossings come as Israel continues attacks as it aims to destroy Hamas after last month’s terror attack.
Troops completely encircled Gaza City on Thursday, said the country’s military, as it steps up ground operations after weeks of aerial attacks.
Chief of staff Herzi Halevy said troops were fighting “face-to-face” battles in “built-up, dense, complex areas”.
He said they were inflicting heavy losses on Hamas and destroying its infrastructure.
Image: This photo from the Israeli military shows ground operations inside the Gaza Strip. Pic: AP
Image: Pic: AP
On Thursday, planes dropped leaflets telling people to evacuate the Shati refugee camp, near Gaza City’s centre.
“Time is up,” they read, warning that strikes “with crushing force” against Hamas were imminent.
Casualties are expected to rise as the fighting gets further into the densely packed streets of Gaza City
At least 20 people were also killed on Thursday when a school-turned-shelter was damaged in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, according to the United Nations.
It said four of its shelters had been hit in the last 24 hours.
Image: A Palestinian man reacts after being rescued from rubble in Bureij refugee camp. Pic: AP
Image: Fifteen people are said to have died after strikes hit the Bureij area
Fifteen also died after an airstrike hit a residential building in the the Bureij refugee camp a few miles south of Gaza City, a civil defence spokesperson said.
It happened in the southern zone where Israel has told people to flee – but which has been repeatedly hit.
Israel says it takes great care to avoid civilian casualties but that Hamas deliberately embeds itself among the population.
More than 9,000 Palestinians have now died in less than a month – with 32,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:32
‘At least 20 killed’ after school-turned-shelter damaged
The offensive was launched after Hamas murdered more than 1,400 Israelis and kidnapped more than 200 in its cross-border attack 7 October.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken is heading back to the region on Friday to try to push President Biden’s suggestion of a humanitarian pause.
He will hold talks in Israel and Jordan but faces a hard time convincing Benjamin Netanyahu to stand down his forces.
The Israeli prime minister has not responded directly to Mr Biden’s idea but previously dismissed calls for a ceasefire.
Speaking on Thursday, he insisted: “We are advancing… Nothing will stop us.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
3:24
Blinken: ‘How Israel does this matters’
The hope behind a pause is to let more foreign nationals to leave while also allowing more aid trucks to enter.
Gaza’s 2.3 million people are facing crippling shortages of food and water, while hospitals are on the verge of collapse and without critical supplies.
Despite strong support among Western governments for Israel’s right to hit back at Hamas, there is growing unease at the number of deaths – with key questions including whether the counterattacks are proportionate.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:44
Rocket strike hits northern Israel
Image: A man mourns Israeli medic staff sergeant Shay Arvas, killed in northern Gaza
On Thursday night, Israel’s military spokesman Brigadier General Daniel Hagari reiterated its mission was only to wipe out Hamas.
“I want to make something very clear,” he said in a recorded video.
“Israel is at war with Hamas. Israel is not at war with the civilians in Gaza.”
Twenty one Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the ground offensive.
Meanwhile, continued rocket fire from Gaza and skirmishes with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants have forced an estimated 250,000 Israelis to evacuate border towns in the north and disrupted life for millions.
Worldwide stock markets have plummeted for the second day running as the fallout from Donald Trump’s global tariffs continues.
While European and Asian markets suffered notable falls, American indexes were the worst hit, with Wall Street closing to a sea of red on Friday following Thursday’s rout – the worst day in US markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.
All three of the US’s major indexes were down by more than 5% at market close; The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 5.5%, the S&P 500 was 5.97% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.82%.
The Nasdaq was also 22% below its record-high set in December, which indicates a bear market.
Ever since the US president announced the tariffs on Wednesday evening, analysts estimate that around $4.9trn (£3.8trn) has been wiped off the value of the global stock market.
More on Donald Trump
Related Topics:
Mr Trump has remained unapologetic as the markets struggle, posting in all-caps on Truth Social before the markets closed that “only the weak will fail”.
The UK’s leading stock market, the FTSE 100, also suffered its worst daily drop in more than five years, closing 4.95% down, a level not seen since March 2020.
And the Japanese exchange Nikkei 225 dropped by 2.75% at end of trading, down 20% from its recent peak in July last year.
Image: US indexes had the worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pic: Reuters
Trump holds trade deal talks – reports
It comes as a source told CNN that Mr Trump has been in discussions with Vietnamese, Indianand Israelirepresentatives to negotiate bespoke trade deals that could alleviate proposed tariffs on those countries before a deadline next week.
The source told the US broadcaster the talks were being held in advance of the reciprocal levies going into effect next week.
Vietnam faced one of the highest reciprocal tariffs announced by the US president this week, with 46% rates on imports. Israeli imports face a 17% rate, and Indian goods will be subject to 26% tariffs.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
China – hit with 34% tariffs on imported goods – has also announced it will issue its own levy of the same rate on US imports.
Mr Trump said China “played it wrong” and “panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do” in another all-caps Truth Social post earlier on Friday.
Later, on Air Force One, the US president told reporters that “the beauty” of the tariffs is that they allow for negotiations, referencing talks with Chinese company ByteDance on the sale of social media app TikTok.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
6:50
Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump
He said: “We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’
“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”
Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.
The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.
The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Image: Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
Image: The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.