According to Hamas, its forces launched a rocket attack on a military target near the Karem Abu Salem border crossing between Israel and Gaza.
Israel has closed the main humanitarian border crossing into Gaza after a Palestinian armed group fired rockets at a military base in southern Israel near the site.
The Israeli military said Sunday that it had closed the Karem Abu Salem border crossing, which Israel calls Kerem Shalom, to support convoys following the attack.
The Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, said the attack targeted a group of Israeli forces in the area of the border crossing and its surroundings.
A video released later said the rockets hit Israeli military “command centers and mobilizations” at the border crossing and “killed and wounded soldiers.”
The Israeli army said it detected 10 projectiles fired into the area from the southern Gaza town of Rafah. It added that it discovered and attacked the source of the fire and other Hamas military infrastructure.
According to Israeli authorities, several people were injured in the rocket attack. The Eshkol regional council said the rockets hit an open area near a military position, according to Israeli media.
The Israeli president claimed that Hamas “attacked humanitarian aid because it doesn’t care about humanity.”
“The world must act to release the hostages and free the people of Gaza from the evil rule of Hamas,” President Isaac Herzog said in a post on X.
Hamas attacks humanitarian aid because it doesn’t care about humanity.
The world must act to release the hostages and free the people of Gaza from Hamas’ evil rule. https://t.co/CqKOK0PrT0
— Isaac Herzog Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) May 5, 2024
The border crossing was one of the most important passages for aid deliveries to the besieged Gaza Strip. Israeli authorities announced the reopening in mid-December after increasing pressure from the United States over the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Despite the reopening, Israeli authorities have allowed only a fraction of the aid needed to address the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory.
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Rafah in southern Gaza, said the attacked military base was used as a launching pad for Israeli attacks on targets in Rafah.
He said the attack came as ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel appeared to have reached an impasse in the Egyptian capital Cairo.
The attack “could be a sign that negotiations are actually at an impasse,” Abu Azzoum said.
Egyptian and Qatari negotiators were in Egypt after renewed attempts to reach an agreement to end the fighting and release more than 100 prisoners held by Palestinian groups in Gaza since October.
But sticking points remain. Hamas wants a permanent ceasefire and guarantees that Israel will not launch a ground invasion of Rafah. Israel has long insisted that the attack will take place regardless of whether a ceasefire agreement is reached.
According to Palestinian authorities, at least 34,683 people, mostly women and children, have been killed and 78,018 injured in Israel’s attack on Gaza since October.
Israel began its war on Gaza after Hamas led an attack on southern Israel on October 7 that killed at least 1,139 people, mostly civilians, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics.