Israeli tanks took control of Gaza’s important Rafah border crossing on Tuesday. Despite urgent warnings from close allies, Israel moved into the southern city while ceasefire negotiations with Hamas were still uncertain.
The attack happened after a lot of fighting in the Israel-Hamas war. The militant group said on Monday that they agreed to a ceasefire proposal from Egypt and Qatar. Israel said that the agreement did not meet their main requests.
The important talks and military tensions gave a small chance for an agreement to stop the 7-month-long war in Gaza.
The Israeli attack last night seemed to be less than the full attack on Rafah that they had planned. It’s not clear if they will do more. The upcoming operation has made people around the world worried about what will happen to the 1. 3 million Palestinians in the city. It also might make the relationship between Israel and the United States worse.
US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to attack the city. Israel told 100,000 Palestinians to leave the eastern part of Rafah.
The Israeli 401st Brigade went into the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday morning and now has control of the border point. The military revealed video showing tanks with Israeli flags taking control of the area. The information in the video matched the features of the crossing that we already know about.
The borders between Israel and Gaza, where aid comes in, have been closed for the last two days. The closing of smaller entry points is making it harder to bring in food, medicine, and other supplies to keep the people in Gaza alive. This is especially worrisome because officials say that the northern part of Gaza is already in a state of severe famine.
Jens Laerke, who speaks for the UN’s humanitarian affairs office (OCHA), said that Israeli authorities have refused to let them into the Rafah crossing. He said if there is trouble at Rafah, it could stop the aid from getting to people who need it. The fuel for the aid comes through there, and without it, the aid can’t go anywhere.
“It will make this crisis much worse, and could even lead to a famine,” he said. The Israeli army is not listening to warnings about how this could affect the people and the help efforts in Gaza.
The army attacked Rafah many times last night, and at least 23 Palestinians were killed, including six women and five children, according to hospital records seen by The Associated Press.
Mohamed Abu Amra said his family members were killed when a bomb hit their house while they were sleeping. “We didn’t do anything. ” Please simplify this text. “We do not have Hamas,” he said. “We discovered a fire that was consuming us. ” The house was really messy.
The Israeli military said it took control of the Rafah crossing because they were told it was being used by terrorists. They did not show proof right away, but they said Hamas fighters near the crossing attacked and killed four Israeli soldiers and injured others.
The army said soldiers and planes attacked places in Rafah where they thought Hamas might be.
Spokesperson from Egyptian Foreign Ministry said they can’t comment right now about Israel taking control of the crossing.
Egypt has said that if Rafah is taken over or if Palestinians are forced to leave and go into Egypt, it could harm the peace agreement with Israel that has been important for keeping the region safe.
Israel is planning to attack Rafah. Many people are worried that a lot of civilians will die in the fighting. So far, more than 34,700 Palestinians have been killed in the attacks. Gaza health officials provided this information. The attack destroyed a large part of the land and now people are struggling to find enough food, water, and medicine.
The Rafah operation has made the disagreement between Netanyahu and Biden about how the war is being fought even bigger. Netanyahu says it is important to attack Rafah because it is a big area controlled by Hamas. Israel wants to destroy Hamas after they attacked southern Israel on Oct 7.
During the unexpected attack by Hamas, about 1,200 people were killed and around 250 others were taken as hostages to Gaza. Israeli critics say that Netanyahu is worried about his government staying in power because some of the strong supporters in his group might leave if he agrees to a deal before a possible attack on Rafah.
On Monday, Biden called Netanyahu and said that stopping the fighting would be the best way to get back the people still kept by Hamas, which is believed to be about 100 people, and also the bodies of about 30 others.
Israel said it will continue with its operations in Rafah. It did not agree with the cease-fire proposal from Hamas. However, it will send a group to Egypt for further talks.
An Egyptian official and a Western diplomat said that the draft Hamas agreed to had very few changes in the wording compared to the version the US had asked for earlier, which Israel had also approved. The CIA chief William Burns agreed to the changes before sending the draft to the Palestinian group. This was disclosed by an anonymous diplomat and official who was involved in the discussions.
The White House said Burns was talking about Hamas’ response with the Israelis and other officials in the area.
Hamas has agreed to a plan that includes releasing the hostages little by little, as Israeli troops also leave the area. The goal is to have a permanent peace with no more fighting.
In the beginning of the ceasefire, Hamas would let go of 33 hostages, such as women, children, older people, and sick people, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians being released from Israeli prisons, and Israeli forces would leave some areas of Gaza. The groups will talk about the next step. They will let the civilian men and soldiers go, and Israel will leave the rest of Gaza.
Hamas wants the war to stop and for Israel to pull out all its soldiers in exchange for freeing all the hostages. Israeli leaders openly say they won’t stop fighting until the hostages are free and Hamas is gone.