Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing, on Tuesday, as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as cease-fire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife’s edge.
The foray came after hours of whiplash in the Israel-Hamas war. This is as Hamas group, on Monday, saying it accepted an Egyptian-Qatari mediated cease-fire proposal. Israel, however, insisted the deal did not meet its core demands.
The high-stakes diplomatic moves and military brinkmanship left a glimmer of hope alive for an accord. The accord could bring at least a pause in the seven-month-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli incursion overnight appeared to be short of the full-fledged offensive into Rafah that Israel had planned. It was not immediately clear if it would expand the offensive.
The looming operation has raised global alarm over the fate of around 1.3 million Palestinians crammed into the city. The operation also threatens to widen a rift between Israel and its main backer, the United States.
U.S. President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again, on Monday, against launching an invasion of the city. This was after Israel ordered 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate from eastern parts of Rafah.
The Israeli 401st Brigade entered the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing early Tuesday, the Israeli military said. It took “operational control” of the crucial border point.
Footage released by the Military showed Israeli flags flying from tanks that seized the area. Details of the video matched known features of the crossing.
Israel has closed both the Rafah crossing and the Kerem Shalom crossing between it and Gaza for at least the past two days. These are the two main routes for entry points for aid to the beleaguered territory.
Though smaller entry points still operate, the closure is a blow to efforts to maintain the flow of food, medicine and other supplies.
Those supplies are keeping Gaza’s population alive at a time when officials say the northern part of the enclave is already experiencing “full-blown famine.”
Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the U.N. humanitarian affairs office known as OCHA, said Israeli authorities have denied it access to the Rafah crossing.
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He warned that disruption at Rafah could break the fragile aid operation. Laerke also said all the fuel keeping the humanitarian work moving comes through the crossing.
“It will plunge this crisis into unprecedented levels of need, including the real possibility of a famine.
“The Israeli military is ignoring all warnings about what this could mean for civilians and the humanitarian operation across the Gaza Strip,” he said.
The military also carried out a flurry of strikes and bombardment across Rafah overnight, killing at least 23 Palestinians, including at least six women and five children, according to hospital records seen by The Associated Press.
Mohamed Abu Amra said his wife, two brothers, sister and niece were killed when a strike flattened their home as they slept.
“We did nothing. … We don’t have Hamas. We found fire devouring us. The IDF turned the house upside down,” he said.
The Israeli military claimed it seized the Rafah crossing after receiving intelligence it was “being used for terrorist purposes”.
The military did not provide evidence to immediately support the assertion. Although, it said Hamas fighters, near the crossing, launched a mortar attack that killed four Israeli troops and wounded others near Kerem Shalom on Sunday.
The military also said that ground troops and airstrikes targeted suspected Hamas positions in Rafah.
An Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson declined to immediately comment on the Israeli seizure of the crossing.
Egypt has previously warned that any seizure of Rafah or an attack that forces Palestinians to flee over the border into Egypt would threaten the 1979 peace treaty with Israel that’s been a linchpin for regional security. Rafah is supposed to be part of a demilitarised border zone. (AP)
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