Heavy bombing caused widespread panic in Rafah as many people were asleep when the strikes started, said residents contacted by Reuters using a chat app. Some feared Israel had begun its ground offensive into Rafah.
Israeli planes, tanks and ships took part in the strikes, with two mosques and several houses hit, according to residents.
The Israeli military said on Monday it had conducted a "series of strikes" on southern Gaza that have now "concluded," without providing further details.
Before previous assaults on Gaza cities, Israel's military has ordered civilians to leave without preparing any specific evacuation plan.
Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday that Israel should not launch a military operation in Rafah without a credible plan to ensure the safety of the roughly one million people sheltering there, the White House said.
Earlier Egypt threatened to suspend its peace treaty with Israel if Israeli troops are sent into Rafah, where it says fighting could force the closure of the besieged territory's main aid supply route, according to two Egyptian officials and a Western diplomat.
The threat to suspend the Camp David Accords, a cornerstone of regional stability for nearly a half-century, came after Netanyahu said sending troops into Rafah was necessary to win the four-month war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Over half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million have fled to Rafah to escape fighting in other areas, and they are packed into sprawling tent camps and UN-run shelters near the border.
Egypt fears a mass influx of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who may never be allowed to return.
Humanitarian aid for Gazans enters the enclave via the Rafah border crossing. (EPA PHOTO)
The standoff between Israel and Egypt, two close US allies, took shape as aid groups warned that an offensive in Rafah would worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, where around 80 per cent of residents have fled their homes and where the UN says a quarter of the population faces starvation.
Hamas' Al-Aqsa television station quoted an unnamed Hamas official as saying that any invasion of Rafah would "blow up" talks mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar aimed at achieving a cease-fire and the release of Israeli hostages.
Netanyahu, in an interview with the US' ABC News, suggested civilians in Rafah could flee north, saying there are "plenty of areas" that have been cleared by the army. He said Israel is developing a "detailed plan" to relocate them.
In Gaza City on Sunday, the remaining residents covered decomposing bodies in the streets or carried bodies to graves.
Some streets were piled high with sand from bombings and smoke billowed from destroyed buildings.
Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other countries have also warned of severe repercussions if Israel goes into Rafah.
I echo the warning by several EU member states that an Israeli offensive on Rafah would lead to an unspeakable humanitarian catastrophe and grave tensions with Egypt. — Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) Resuming negotiations to free hostages and suspend hostilities is the only way to avert a bloodshed.February 10, 2024
"An Israeli offensive on Rafah would lead to an unspeakable humanitarian catastrophe and grave tensions with Egypt," European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wrote on X.
The White House, which has rushed arms to Israel and shielded it from international calls for a ceasefire, has also warned against a Rafah ground operation under current circumstances, saying it would be a "disaster" for civilians.
Health authorities in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, estimate more than 28,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the region since the conflict began in October.
Palestinian health authorities say around 70 per cent of those who have been killed were women or children under 18. The World Health Organisation has described the Palestinian Health Ministry system for reporting casualties as "very good" and UN agencies regularly cite its death toll figures.
with Reuters
