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As they advanced towards Goma, the M23 captured the towns of Masisi and Minova.
More than 200 civilians have been killed in areas captured by the M23, local leaders said Thursday.
And according to the United Nations, two children died after bombs fell on a camp for displaced people.
As a result of these unrest, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi cut short his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos and returned on Thursday for urgent security meetings with senior officials.
The fall of Goma, a city of more than a million people located near the border with Rwanda, would be a major blow to the rebels. They briefly took over the city during a rebellion in 2012, but withdrew after a deal was negotiated.
Numerous roads leading into the city have been blocked, raising concerns that food supplies in the city will run out.
“The city of Goma is imprisoned, it is suffocated, there are no more entrances, there are no more exits… this population is suffering enormously,” local union leader Bahala Shamavu Innocent told the BBC.
Espoir Ngalukiye, a member of the opposition party Ensemble pour la Republique, is also concerned about access to food.
“In Goma we are not really safe,” Ngalukiye said. “No one who lives in Goma can say they are not afraid.”
On Thursday, rebels captured the nearby town of Sake, according to the United Nations, the United Kingdom and several other sources.
But the Congolese army said it had repelled the attack on Sake, which is just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Goma.
Residents of Sake and the wider area, many of whom have already been displaced by the conflict, have fled their homes.
People escape carrying mattresses and other essential items on their backs, while dozens pile into overcrowded wooden boats.
