The Israeli military says it has reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza but a United Nations agency says no aid has yet entered. The key terminal for the entry of humanitarian aid was closed over the weekend after a Hamas rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers nearby. An Israeli tank brigade seized the nearby Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt early Tuesday, and it remained closed. The limited incursion does not appear to be the start of the full-scale invasion of the crowded southern city that Israel has repeatedly promised. The U.S. has urged Israel not to launch a full-on assault on Rafah because it would worsen Gaza's humanitarian catastrophe, and it paused a shipment of bombs to its close ally last week over those concerns.

Gaza’s overcrowded southernmost city, Rafah, has been thrown into panic and chaos by Israel’s seizure of the nearby border crossing with Egypt and as the possibility of a full-scale invasion looms. Tens of thousands of displaced and exhausted Palestinians have packed up their tents and other belongings, dragging families on a new exodus. The main hospital has shut down, leaving little care for people suffering from malnutrition, illnesses and wounds. And with fuel and other supplies cut off, aid workers have been scrambling to help a population desperate after seven months of war.

Authorities in southern Brazil are rushing to rescue survivors of massive flooding that has killed at least 100 people, but some residents are refusing to leave belongings behind while others are returning to evacuated homes despite the risk of new storms. Authorities say the heavy rains and flooding in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul since last week also have left 130 people missing. More than 230,000 have been displaced, and much of the region has been isolated by the floodwaters. Army General Marcelo Zucco, one of the coordinators of rescue operations, said his team is working at full steam before heavy rains that are forecast to hit the Porto Alegre area this weekend.