US pauses shipment of thousands of bombs to Israel

Move comes amid concern over invasion of Rafah, where battles have already begun

CAIRO/WASHINGTON/RAFAH, Gaza Strip Hamas said it was battling Israeli troops on the outskirts of the Gaza Strip's crowded southern city of Rafah on May 8 after a US official said Washington had halted a shipment of powerful bombs that Israel could use in a full-scale assault.

The US, which is seeking to stave off an Israeli invasion of Rafah, said it believes a revised Hamas ceasefire proposal may lead to a breakthrough in an impasse in negotiations, with talks resuming in Cairo on May 8.

Israel has threatened a major assault on Rafah to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are holed up there, but Western nations and the UN have warned that a fullscale attack on the city would be a humanitarian catastrophe.

Hamas said its fighters were battling Israeli forces in the east of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge from combat further north in the enclave.

Islamic Jihad said its fighters attacked Israeli soldiers and military vehicles with heavy artillery near the airport east of Rafah.

"The streets of the city echo with the cries of innocent lives lost, families torn apart, and homes reduced to rubble. We stand on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented proportions," Rafah's Mayor Ahmed AlSofi said in an appeal to the international community to intervene.

Around 10,000 Palestinians have left Rafah since May 6, said Ms Juliette Touma, spokeswoman for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office put the number at tens of thousands.