Israel takes control of Rafah border crossing and closes vital aid route – The Irish Times

Israeli forces seized the main border crossing between Egypt and southern Gaza on Tuesday, closing a vital aid route to the Palestinian enclave already on the brink of famine. They also took control of part of the strategically important border highway between Gaza and Egypt, along with the eastern neighborhoods of Gaza City, where more than a million residents have sought refuge from the war.

Israel claims that about 20 militants were killed as tanks and infantry troops advanced, although resistance has so far been reported to be relatively light. According to Israel, special forces swept buildings in captured neighborhoods and three tunnel shafts were discovered.

Militants fired 30 rockets at Israeli border communities from southern Gaza on Tuesday night.

The Ha’aretz newspaper reported that Israel has told the United States and Egypt that it will restrict its operation in Rafah, with the sole objective of denying Hamas authority over the border crossing and concentrating on the eastern neighborhoods. The parties have agreed that a US private security company will assume management of the crossing once Israel concludes its operation.

However, Israel threatens to deepen the operation if an agreement on a ceasefire and release of hostages is not reached.

Before the raid on Rafah, Israel warned about 100,000 residents of the eastern neighborhoods to evacuate immediately to the Al-Mawasi “humanitarian zone” along the coast, about 20 kilometers away, where Israel says they have prepared tents and field hospitals. The World Health Organization has said the arrival of more people to the Israeli-designated sites will exacerbate overcrowding and lead to food and water shortages.

Entire families piled into cars, traveled in donkey carts or on foot to flee Rafah. Most had already left their homes in northern or central Gaza early in the seven-month war to escape combat zones.

Maher al-Jamal said he had fled from a village near Gaza City in the north of the enclave to Nuseirat in central Gaza before arriving in Rafah. “Now they threaten Rafah to commit massacres here in Rafah. We honestly don’t know where to go. God is our only support,” he stated.

Hamas says the closure of the Rafah crossing is a continuation of Israel’s policy of “famine and persecution” of Palestinians, claiming the move will undermine ceasefire efforts.

The Palestinian Authority called on the United States to “intervene immediately.”

( Timeline: The twists and turns of Gaza ceasefire talks )

( I think of the hostages and their tortured families and cry for the broken generations in Gaza. )

As the military operation in Rafah continued, a mid-level Israeli delegation arrived in Cairo for talks after Hamas declared on Monday night, in a surprising development, that it had accepted a revised ceasefire agreement, prompting celebrations by Gaza residents.

However, Hamas’s terms were significantly different from the Egyptian draft that had been on the table for two weeks and which had been drawn up in coordination with Israel. Israeli officials claimed that Hamas’ announcement was a ruse to stop the Rafah attack and put international pressure on Israel.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu described the Hamas project as “far removed from Israel’s vital demands.”

“We already demonstrated it in the previous release of hostages: military pressure on Hamas is a precondition for the return of the hostages,” he said.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: “The operation in Rafah will not stop until Hamas is eliminated, or until the first hostage returns to Israel.”

Many analysts believe Netanyahu is reluctant to support a ceasefire because this would likely result in the end of his right-wing coalition. Far-right members of the coalition have threatened to leave the government in the event of a truce.

However, the entire war cabinet, including centrist ministers, rejected Hamas’s new draft and backed sending a delegation to Cairo for further talks.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said that “a careful assessment of both sides’ positions suggests they should be able to close the remaining gaps,” and that CIA chief Bill Burns is present at the talks. Cairo talks.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called the decision to send an Israeli delegation to Cairo “a mistake and a fall into the manipulative trap that Hamas set for us, along with Qatar and Egypt.”

A total of 34,789 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping about 250 more, of whom 133 are believed to remain captive in Gaza, according to Israeli counts.