The Israeli military has seized control of the Gaza Strip side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and is continuing an offensive in the southern city as prospects for a ceasefire deal with Hamas hang in the balance.
Israel’s 401st Brigade entered the Rafah crossing on Tuesday morning, a day after the Palestinian group that rules Gaza said it had accepted a ceasefire proposal brokered by Egypt and Qatar. Israel, meanwhile, insisted that the deal did not meet its core demands.
The Rafah border crossing is crucial both for aid and for those able to flee to Egypt. Israeli leaders have long expected military action in the southern city, where some 1.4 million Palestinians, including more than 600,000 children, are seeking refuge, despite calls from the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and international humanitarian organizations had warned 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 border crossing. Details of the video matched known features of the crossing and showed Israeli flags flying from tanks occupying the area.
The Israeli military said in an early morning news conference on Tuesday that its special forces were scanning the area and had been operating in eastern Rafah since Monday evening.
Israel said the vast majority of people had been evacuated from the area of military operations. The Palestinians were ordered through Arabic text messages, phone calls and leaflets to move toward al-Mawasi on the Mediterranean coast, where the military said it had set up a humanitarian zone with field hospitals, tents and medical supplies.
The evacuations came as the Israeli military stepped up its bombardment of the city. According to Palestinian health authorities, tanks and aircraft bombed several areas and at least four houses in Rafah overnight, killing 20 Palestinians and wounding several others.
Three people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a home belonging to the al-Darbi family west of the city of Rafah, Al Jazeera Arabic reported. At least twelve others were killed in separate attacks on Rafah overnight.
What are the reactions to the offensive?
The Israeli military claimed it occupied the Rafah border crossing after receiving information that it was being “used for terrorist purposes.” It said that in addition to killing 20 militants and destroying infrastructure in the area, Hamas forces also located “three operational wells.”
“The forces of the 401st Divisional Combat Team and the Givati Brigade Divisional Combat Team continue to operate against terrorists and terrorist infrastructure in the region,” said a post on X.
No evidence was initially provided to support this claim, but the military claimed the area around the Rafah crossing was used for a mortar attack that killed three Israelis near the Karem Abu Salem crossing, which Israel calls the Kerem Shalom crossing Soldiers were killed and others were injured. on Sunday. Hamas’ armed wing claimed responsibility for the attack.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said his country would have “dismantled” Hamas long ago if it weren’t for the prisoners held in Gaza. “The army’s entry into Rafah advances the two main goals of the war: freeing prisoners and defeating Hamas,” he said on X.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian called on Israel to “heed the overwhelming calls of the international community to stop the attack on Rafah and do everything possible to prevent an even worse humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.”
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned that Israel was “endangering the agreement.” [with Hamas] by the bombing of Rafah”.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II said in a private meeting with US President Joe Biden on Monday that an Israeli offensive in Rafah could lead to a “new massacre” of Palestinian civilians and lead to a regional expansion of the conflict.
What about the ceasefire agreement that Hamas agreed to?
Hamas said on Monday it had accepted a ceasefire proposal put forward by Egypt and Qatar that would provide for an initial halt in fighting and thus a permanent calm and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian territory.
The proposed deal would also ensure the release of Israeli prisoners in Gaza as well as an unspecified number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
The Israeli prime minister’s office released a statement saying that Hamas’s “proposal was far from Israel’s requirements” but that it would send a delegation to Cairo to continue negotiations.
The statement added that Israel “will continue the operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas.”
Families of prisoners in Gaza held demonstrations to pressure the Israeli government to accept the deal and return their loved ones home.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington would discuss Hamas’s response with its allies in the coming hours and that an agreement was “absolutely achievable.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the prospect of a ground invasion of Rafah “unbearable” and called on Israel and Hamas to “go an extra mile” to reach a ceasefire agreement.
“This is an opportunity that cannot be missed and a ground invasion of Rafah would be intolerable because of its devastating humanitarian consequences and because of its destabilizing impact on the region,” Guterres said Monday before a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in New York .
What does this mean for aid deliveries to Gaza?
The Gaza Strip is now isolated from the rest of the region. Deliveries of essential aid to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing have been halted despite UN warnings of impending famine.
Gaza’s southern border with Egypt has been the main lifeline for the delivery of humanitarian aid and the only exit point for injured people and foreign passport holders.
Although Israel does not directly control the Rafah crossing, it monitors all activities in the southern Gaza Strip through its military bases and other surveillance measures.
The Israeli military also closed the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) border crossing in southern Israel on Tuesday for “security reasons” and said it would reopen it as soon as the situation allows.
Hisham Edwan, spokesman for the Gaza Border Crossing Authority, said Israel had “sentenced residents of the Strip to death following the closure of the Rafah crossing.” He said the situation is particularly serious for cancer patients who need treatment.
World Food Program Executive Director Cindy McCain warned Sunday that the “full-blown famine” affecting the enclave’s north was “spreading south.”
The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) explained in an article
UNRWA planning director Sam Rose told Al Jazeera that Israel’s push to close the Rafah border crossing and the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) border crossing “cuts everything off”.
“Desalination plants are unable to function and provide clean water. There’s no electricity,” Rose said.
As an occupying power, Israel is obliged under international law to ensure the supply of food and medical care to the population and to facilitate the work of humanitarian aid organizations.