The Israeli military has sent tanks into Rafah, and taken control of Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, as the international community moves to condemn a potential Rafah invasion.
Israel sent tanks into Rafah in war-torn Gaza’s far south and took control of the border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, as its war with Hamas entered an eighth month.
The military’s thrust into the eastern sector of the overcrowded city came a day after Israel warned Palestinians in the area to evacuate ahead of a long-threatened ground operation.
Army footage showed tanks flying the Israeli flag taking “operational control” of the Palestinian side of the border crossing, it said, in a deployment that had a “very limited scope against very specific targets”.
Overnight, heavy bombardments rocked Rafah, an AFP correspondent reported. The Kuwaiti hospital said 23 people were killed and the Najjar hospital said another four people were killed.
The latest violence comes after four Israeli soldiers were killed Sunday in a rocket attack on the Kerem Shalom crossing that was claimed by the armed wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said six mortar shells were launched toward the Kerem Shalom Crossing on Tuesday although no casualties nor damage were reported.
‘Permanent ceasefire’
Hamas said on Monday night it had informed Egypt and Qatar of its “approval of their proposal regarding a ceasefire” in the conflict, prompting cheering crowds to take to the streets of Rafah.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the proposal was “far from Israel’s essential demands”.
In the meantime, it added, “Israel is continuing the operation to exert military pressure on Hamas to release our hostages and the other objectives of the war”.
CNN is reporting, quoting an Israeli source, that “the limited operation in Rafah aims to put pressure on Hamas until it agrees to an agreement to release the hostages, after which there will be a calm in the fighting.”
International alarm
International alarm has been steadily building about the consequences of an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah.
An Israeli incursion into the city would be “intolerable”, UN chief Antonio Guterres said Monday.
Egypt’s foreign ministry warned of “grave humanitarian risks” for the civilians sheltering in Rafah and urged Israel to “exercise restraint”.
US President Joe Biden restated “his clear position” opposing an invasion of the city, the White House said.
Jordanian King Abdullah II asked President Joe Biden in talks Monday to intervene to stop a “new massacre” in Rafah.
China urged Israel to “heed the overwhelming demands of the international community, and stop attacking Rafah.”
The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, called on Israel to “renounce” its plans, and said the EU “can and must act to prevent such a scenario.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last Monday that the bloc would take action should Israel invade Rafah.
An anonymous EU official told Euronews that the bloc was looking to convene member states to discuss a potential response to Israel’s defiance.
On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his “firmest opposition” to an Israeli ground assault on Rafah.
