'All eyes on Rafah': Israeli tanks attack southern Gaza despite global outcry

All eyes on Rafah: All you need to know:

--Latest reports said that Israel advanced to an area of tents housing displaced people West of Rafah where twenty-one Palestinians were killed, at least twelve of them women, and dozens wounded.

--Global leaders have voiced horror at the fire in a designated "humanitarian zone" where families uprooted by fighting elsewhere in Gaza had sought shelter, and urged the implementation of a World Court order for a halt to Israel's assault.

--Overnight, its forces battered the city with airstrikes and tank fire, residents said, pressing the offensive despite an international outcry over an attack on Sunday that sparked a massive blaze in a tent camp, killing at least 45 Palestinians, more than half of them children, women and the elderly.

--The United Nations Security Council has convened an emergency meeting on May 28, following Israeli strike on a displaced persons camp in Rafah, Gaza. Algeria requested the closed-door meeting, the diplomats said. The country is a non-permanent member of the UNSC.

--In another move purportedly aimed at reining in the violence, Spain, Ireland and Norway were to officially recognise a Palestinian state on Tuesday. The three countries have said they hope their decision will accelerate efforts towards securing a ceasefire in Israel's war against Hamas militants, now in its eighth month, that has reduced much of the densely populated territory to rubble.

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--Around one million people - many repeatedly displaced by shifting waves of the war - have fled the Israeli offensive in Rafah since early May, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) reported.

--Israel says it wants to root out Hamas fighters holed up in Rafah and rescue hostages it says are being held in the area.

--More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive, Gaza's health ministry says. Israel launched its air and ground war after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

(With inputs from agencies)