The area is densely populated with tents, the sources said.
As the Israel-Hamas war crosses the seven-month mark, negotiations are apparently stalled to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization, and Israeli forces continue to launch incursions in the southern Gazan town of Rafah ahead of a possible large-scale invasion.
Israeli Defense Forces are now fighting near central Rafah, representing an expansion of its operations, the IDF said Thursday.
Close to 1 million people have been evacuated from Rafah, according to IDF Commanding Officer Daniel Hagari.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
The Egyptian government said Wednesday that attempts to undermine its efforts to broker a Gaza cease-fire deal could push it to entirely pull out of mediation in the conflict.
Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt’s State Information Services, said Egypt categorically rejected a report from CNN that claimed his government changed the terms of a Gaza cease-fire deal that Israel had already signed off on before submitting it to Hamas.
Rashwan called the report "false" and "devoid of any information or facts."
"The ongoing attempts to cast doubt and insult the Egyptian mediation efforts and roles, with allegations that contradict reality, will only lead to further complicating the situation in Gaza and the entire region, and may push the Egyptian side to take a decision to withdraw completely from the mediation it is carrying out in the current conflict," he said in a statement.
Rashwan added that Egypt would only open the Rafah border crossing if the Palestinian side is operated by Palestinians, reiterating that Cairo does not acknowledge the Israeli control of the Palestinian side of the crossing.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
The Israeli Hostage Center released a video Wednesday showing five young women being taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, all of whom are considered to be alive and in Hamas custody.
Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniela Gilboa and Naama Levy were taken hostage from the Nahal Oz Base, according to the Hostage Center. Families of hostages criticized the Israeli government's failure to secure their release.
"A damning testament to the nation's failure to bring home the hostages, who have been forsaken for 229 days," the Hostage Center said in a release.
Ayelet Levy, Naama's mother, said in a statement that her heart was with the 19-year-old "in those horrifying moments in the horrifying day of October 7th."
"We only see in that video a fraction of the horrible things that are going on in their surrounding in the shelter. She is terrified and wounded, there is fear in her eyes, and she is saying what she can, she is begging for her life."
Shlomi Berger, Agam's father, told ABC News they decided to release the video to apply pressure on the Israeli government to reach a cease-fire deal that secured the release of the hostages.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the video is evidence of why the war must continue until Hamas is "eliminated."
"I am shocked by the video documenting the kidnapping of our precious female observers. We will continue to do everything to bring them home," Netanyahu said in a statement.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky and Britt Clennett
Israel has made "refinements" to its military operations in and around Rafah following U.S. concerns about harm to civilians, U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan said Wednesday.
"We had detailed discussions on Rafah during my visit to Israel. These have built on weeks now, as I've discussed with you from this podium, of discussions on a professional basis, about Rafah and about how Israel can achieve the defeat of Hamas, everywhere in Gaza, including in Rafah, while minimizing civilian harm," Sullivan said discussing his recent trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia.
"What we have seen so far in terms of Israel's military operations in that area has been more targeted and limited, has not involved major military operations into the heart of dense urban areas," he said.
Sullivan said the U.S. will "now have to see what unfolds from here" and whether what Israeli officials have laid out continues to happen.
-ABC News' Justin Ryan Gomez
