Israeli tanks and troops appeared to push their way into the southern Gaza city of Rafah early Tuesday after Jerusalem said a truce offer from the Hamas terror group did not meet its demands and announcing that it okayed moving ahead with the long-threatened offensive, Paralel.Az reports citing The Times of Israel.

The Israeli military said it was conducting “targeted strikes” against Hamas in eastern Rafah, thought to be the terror group’s final stronghold.

Soon after, Israeli tanks entered Gaza near Rafah, reaching as close as 200 meters (650 feet) from the Rafah Crossing terminal with neighboring Egypt, a Palestinian security official and an Egyptian official said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.