The Israel Defense Forces' Commando Brigade was deployed to southern Gaza’s Rafah overnight, joining the 162nd Division that has been operating in the eastern part of the city since earlier this month.

The move comes as the Israeli government is expected to approve widening the offensive there.

"Additional troops will join the ground operation in Rafah," Israel Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said Thursday, in remarks after completing an operational situation assessment at the Gaza border in Rafah.

"Several tunnels in the area have been destroyed by our troops and additional tunnels will be destroyed soon. This activity will intensify," he said.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Will Gretsky

A floating pier designed to increase the amount of aid getting into Gaza -- known as a Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) system -- was successfully anchored to the central Gazan shore on Thursday morning, according to IDF Spokesperson Nadav Shoshani.

The Israeli Navy will be securing an aid ship to JLOTS and Israeli soldiers from the 99th Division will be on the ground securing the port area, according to the IDF.

The United Nations, led by the World Food Programme, will be responsible for distributing the aid from JLOTS, the IDF said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping held several hours of talks on Thursday in China, with Putin saying both Russia and China want political solutions to the “Ukrainian crisis” and Xi calling for a two-state solution to stop the war between Israel and Hamas.

Xi also took a moment to praise China's “everlasting friendship” with Russia.

President Putin was welcomed with pomp expected on his state visit to China, complete with red carpet, military band and hundreds of Chinese militaries standing at attention to welcome him to the Great Hall of the People.

The U.S. has assessed that Israel has amassed enough troops on the edge of Rafah to move forward with a full-scale incursion into the city, but the U.S. is not sure if Israel has made a final decision to actually do so, according to two U.S. officials.

One official added that the U.S. does not have a timeline or estimate on when Israel could potentially move forward with operations.

The official stressed the U.S. continues to have the same concerns for civilian safety in Rafah.

-ABC News' Luis Martinez and Selina Wang

The State Department on Monday said it was aware of reports that U.S. doctors were trapped in Gaza, and that it's been working with Israel to reopen the Rafah gate so U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals can leave.

"I can say that we're aware of these reports of U.S. citizen doctors and medical professionals currently unable to leave Gaza," principal deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said. "As I said before, we don't control this border crossing. And this is a incredibly complex situation that has very serious implications for the safety and security of U.S. citizens. But we're continuing to work around the clock with the government of Israel, with the government of Egypt, to work on this issue."

He added, "Rafah is a conduit for the safe departure of foreign nationals, which is why we continue to want to see it get opened as swiftly as possible."

The State Department said it does not have an estimate of Americans still trapped in Gaza, but that it's helped 1,800 U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents to depart Gaza so far.

"Unfortunately, this is not a border crossing the United States controls but we are continuing to work around the clock with the government of Israel, with the government of Egypt on whatever we can do to make sure that Rafah gets open. … We need to see Rafah open as soon as possible," Patel said.

-ABC News' Anne Flaherty