The Israeli army has took control On the Gaza Strip side of the Egyptian border crossing at Rafah, as an opportunity to proceed with an offensive in the southern city. ceasefire agreement Hanging in the balance with Hamas.
Israel’s 401st Brigade entered the Rafah crossing on Tuesday morning, a day after the Palestinian group that rules Gaza said. accepted Egypt-Qatar ceasefire proposal. Israel, on the other hand, insisted that the agreement did not meet its basic demands.
The Rafah crossing is critical for both aid and those able to flee to Egypt. Israeli leaders had long planned a military operation in the southern city, where some 1.4 million Palestinians, including more than 600,000 children, are sheltering, despite warnings by the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and international humanitarian agencies that an attack would be catastrophic. .
What is the situation on the ground in Rafah?
Footage released by the Israeli military showed a tank entering the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing. The details of the video matched the familiar features of the crossing and showed Israeli flags flying from the tanks that had taken over the area.
The Israeli army said in an early morning news broadcast on Tuesday that its special forces were searching the area and had been operating since Monday night in eastern Rafah.
Israel said most people had been evacuated from the area of military operations. Arab text messages, phone calls and flyers ordered Palestinians to head towards al-Mawasi on the Mediterranean coast, where the military said it had set up a humanitarian zone with a field hospital, shops and medical supplies.
The evacuations came as the Israeli army intensified its bombardment of the city. Tanks and planes struck several sites and at least four houses in Rafah overnight, killing 20 Palestinians and injuring scores, according to Palestinian health officials.
Three people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house belonging to the al-Darbi family in the western city of Rafah, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.
Who are they in the face of the attack?
The Israeli army said it seized the Rafah crossing after receiving information that it was “being used for terrorist purposes”. He said that in addition to killing 20 fighters and destroying Hamas infrastructure, his forces had also located “three operational axes”.
“The forces of the 401st Divisional Combat Team and the Divisional Combat Team of the Givati Brigade continue to work against terrorists and terrorist infrastructure,” he said in a message from X.
No evidence was immediately provided to back up the claim, but the military is believed to have used the area around the Rafah crossing to launch one. mortar attack that killed three Israeli soldiers and wounded others near the Karem Abu Salem crossing, which Israel calls the Kerem Shalom crossing, on Sunday. The armed wing of Hamas has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said his country would have “crushed” Hamas if not for the captives held in Gaza long ago. “The entry of the army into Rafah promotes the two main goals of the war: the release of the captives and the defeat of Hamas,” X said.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian called on Israel to “heed the dire demands of the international community, stop attacking Rafah and do everything possible to prevent a more serious humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.”
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned that Israel is “jeopardizing the agreement.” [with Hamas] Bombing Rafah”.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II told US President Joe Biden in a private meeting on Monday that an attack on Israel’s Rafah would lead to “a new massacre” of Palestinian civilians and could lead to a regional spillover of the conflict.
What about the cease-fire agreement agreed to by Hamas?
Hamas said on Monday that it had accepted ceasefire proposal An initial halt to the fighting proposed by Egypt and Qatar would lead to a lasting calm and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian territory.
The proposed deal would also guarantee the release of Israeli captives in Gaza and an unspecified number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
The Israeli prime minister’s office released a statement saying that “Hamas’ proposal is far from Israel’s demands”, but will send a delegation to Cairo to continue negotiations.
The statement added that Israel “will continue the Rafah operation to put military pressure on Hamas.”
Families of Gazan captives staged demonstrations demanding that the Israeli government accept the deal and return their loved ones home.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington would discuss the Hamas response with its allies in the coming hours, and that a deal was “absolutely achievable”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called the prospect of a Rafah ground invasion “unbearable” and called on Israel and Hamas to “go the extra mile” to reach a truce deal.
“This is an opportunity that cannot be missed, and a ground invasion of Rafah would be intolerable because of its devastating humanitarian consequences and its destabilizing effect on the region,” Guterres said on Monday, ahead of a meeting with Italian President Sergio. Mattarella in New York.
What does this mean for aid shipments to Gaza?
The Gaza Strip is now closed off from the rest of the region. Shipments of crucial aid supplies to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing have been halted, despite UN warnings. facing famine.
Gaza’s southern border with Egypt has been the main lifeline for humanitarian aid and the only exit point for injured people and foreign passports.
Although Israel does not directly control the Rafah crossing, it controls all activity in southern Gaza through its military bases and other watchdogs.
The Israeli army also closed the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in southern Israel on Tuesday for “security reasons” and said it would reopen when the situation allows.
Hisham Edwan, a spokesman for the Gaza Border Crossing Authority, said Israel “imposed the death penalty on residents of the Strip after closing the Rafah border crossing.” He said the situation is particularly serious for cancer patients who need treatment.
World Food Program Director Cindy McCain warned on Sunday that the “total famine” that had gripped the northern part of the rift was moving “south”.
The UN Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA) said in a publication on X that the “catastrophic hunger that people are facing” in Gaza would become “much worse” if supply routes were cut.
Sam Rose, UNRWA’s director of planning, told Al Jazeera that Israel’s push to close the Rafah crossing and the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing “cuts everything”.
“There is no capacity to operate desalination plants and provide safe water. There is no electricity,” Rose said.
As the occupying power, Israel is obliged under international law to ensure the provision of food and health care to the population and to facilitate the work of humanitarian organizations providing aid.
