The US does not believe Israel has launched a full-scale invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza, White House spokesman John Kirby has said., Ednews reports via BBC.

He spoke hours after Israeli forces reached the centre of the city and reportedly seized a strategically important hill overlooking the nearby border with Egypt.

US President Joe Biden said this month he would limit weapons supplies to Israel if it entered the “population centres” of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are still believed to be sheltering.

Mr Kirby was also questioned about an Israeli strike and a resulting fire that killed at least 45 Palestinians – many of them women, children, or elderly – at a camp for displaced people on Sunday.
Israel has said the strike targeted and killed two senior Hamas officials, and that it believes an explosion at a Hamas weapons store nearby could have caused the fire.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Kirby described images from the aftermath of the strike as "heartbreaking" and "horrific".

“There should be no innocent life lost here as a result of this conflict," he added.

The US state department said it was watching closely for the Israeli military to conduct a quick and thorough investigation into the strike.