JERUSALEM/GAZA/BEIRUT - Israel's military said on Monday that its troops have defeated about half of the Hamas forces in Gaza's Rafah.

According to a military statement, soldiers from the 162nd Division, which has been fighting in Rafah for more than 40 days, have killed about 550 militants in the city, while 22 Israeli soldiers lost their lives during the battles.

Two of the four Hamas battalions in Rafah are "on the verge of being defeated," the army said, adding that ground battles are still ongoing against the other two battalions.

The Israeli army on Monday burned down the departure hall on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, rendering it out of service, Palestinian security sources said

The Israeli forces gained "operational control" over the entire area between Gaza and Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, according to the army.

"Now the forces on the ground are working to continue and complete the mission. It is estimated that it will take a few more weeks to complete the mission in Rafah," the army said.

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About 200 tunnel shafts and 25 tunnel routes, some crossing to Egypt and suspected to be utilized for smuggling activities, have been located, according to the statement. 

Departure hall

The Israeli army on Monday burned down the departure hall on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, rendering it out of service, Palestinian security sources said.

Video clips circulated by Palestinian activists on Facebook showed the departure lounge and other facilities at the crossing were completely burnt.

The Israel Defense Forces told Xinhua they are reviewing the matter, without elaborating further. The Palestinian side of the crossing between Gaza and Egypt has been under Israeli control since May 7.

In a statement, Hamas described the burning of the departure building and other facilities inside Rafah crossing as a "criminal act and barbaric behavior within the framework of a continuing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza."

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Palestinian merchants killed

Also on Monday, at least eight Palestinian merchants were killed in an Israeli attack as they were waiting for commercial trucks along a road in the Gaza Strip, according to sources from the health authorities in Gaza on Monday.

None of the official Palestinian sources has provided further details. So far, the Israeli army has not commented on the matter.

Senior Hezbollah member killed

A senior Hezbollah member was killed, and three civilians were injured on Monday in Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanese villages, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua.

The sources, who spoke anonymously, said the Hezbollah member was killed after an Israeli drone targeted his car with two air-to-surface missiles as he arrived in front of his house in the southwestern Selaa village in the Tyre district.

The slain Hezbollah fighter was identified as Mohammad Mustafa Ayoub, an expert in manufacturing military equipment. He also engaged in the group's activities in the western sector of the border area of southern Lebanon.

In a separate incident, an Israeli drone fired two missiles at a house in the southeastern village of Mays al-Jabal, destroying it and wounding three civilians, including a girl who was transferred to the hospital for treatment, according to the sources.