Israel has carried out several deadly attacks on the Gaza Strip, but the ground fighting appears to have subsided.
The Israeli military has declared a "pause" to allow more supplies to be let in. For the Muslim population, holidays are underway.
Care providers in Hamas-ruled Gaza reported ten deaths within a 24-hour period on Monday, which is one of the lowest death tolls reported from there during the war.
Witnesses told the AFP news agency that loud explosions were heard in and around the city of Rafah, which is located on the border in the southern end of the Gaza Strip. Early on Monday morning, before Israel's "local and tactical pause" began, authorities in Rafah warned of shelling from tanks.
Dozens killed
From the Israeli side, there are reports of ground fighting in Rafah and central Gaza, where several opposing forces are said to have been killed.
Witnesses later described gunfire and shelling at the established refugee camp of al-Nuseirat in central Gaza. The Palestinian civil defence authority announced on Tuesday that at least 13 people had been killed in two separate airstrikes, one targeting a family home and one targeting a commercial property.
An AFP correspondent in Gaza describes the fighting as having subsided in the area. Muslims are currently celebrating the Eid al-Adha holiday. Shelling and exchanges of fire along Israel's northern border with Lebanon have also subsided.
Main road to be cleared
According to the Israeli military's announcement, a pause in the fighting will take place between 8 am and 7 pm local time every day, for the time being. According to the announcement, it specifically applies to a road leading from the Kerem Shalom border crossing to the Salah al-Din Road and then northwards. The Salah al-Din Road is essentially the only major road that runs through the entire Gaza Strip.
Israel's ongoing war against the terrorist-designated Hamas in the Gaza Strip began after the Islamist extremist group's attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
Nearly 1,200 people are estimated to have fallen victim to the terrorist attack, most of them civilians, and more than 200 people were taken hostage.
Israel responded with extensive ground and air offensives against the Gaza Strip, with the stated goal of destroying Hamas, which rules the area, and rescuing the hostages.
During the war, more than 37,000 people have died in Hamas-controlled Gaza, according to local health authorities. The figures do not distinguish between civilian and combatant fatalities.
Large parts of the built-up area in the region have been reduced to ruins.
