Warnings of major casualties as Israeli forces move in to Rafah
The Israeli military has taken control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing in the south of the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday.
Rafah was the last city in the coastal territory that Israeli forces had not entered during its massive offensive since the October 7 attacks on southern Israel. Israel believes that weapons are entering the Gaza Strip via the border with Egypt.
It is also the first time since the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip almost two decades ago that Israeli forces have re-entered the area.
Army video footage showed tanks rolling into the Rafah border area. A large Israeli national flag was flying on one of the tanks.
"Following intelligence that indicated that the Rafah Crossing in eastern Rafah was being used for terrorist purposes, IDF troops obtained operational control of the Gazan side of the crossing," the army wrote on its Telegram channel.
That followed an overnight operation in which the ground troops together with the air force "began a precise counterterrorism operation" to eliminate the Palestinian Islamist militia Hamas and dismantle its infrastructure in eastern Rafah, the IDF said.
It said it eliminated Hamas military structures, underground infrastructures and other facilities the group operated. The army said about 20 Hamas fighters were killed in the operation. There were no Israeli injuries reported, the IDF said.
Angry reaction to Israeli offensive
The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas called Israel's storming of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt a "dangerous escalation" against civilian facilities protected by international law.
It added in a statement that the military attack will exacerbate the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and will prevent the flow of much needed emergency relief aid to Gaza.
Egypt's Foreign Ministry said it considered the move "a dangerous escalation threatening the lives of more than 1 million Palestinians who depend mainly on this crossing as it is the main lifeline of the Gaza Strip."
The Rafah border crossing has been "the safe gateway" for those sick and wounded to get out of Gaza for treatment and for humanitarian and relief aid to enter the enclave, the statement added.
International concern over trapped civilians
Israel's allies and other international leaders have been warning against a Rafah offensive. Large numbers of Palestinian civilians have sought shelter in the city after fleeing Israeli airstrikes and ground operations elsewhere in the Gaza Strip.
The European Union's foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, criticized the Israeli army's advance on the Gazan city of Rafah.
"I am afraid that this is going to cause again a lot of casualties - civilian casualties," Borrell said. The humanitarian branches of the United Nations have condemned Israel's advance into Rafah.
A spokeswoman for the UN Human Rights Office, Ravina Shamdasani, commented that for civilians who have been ordered to evacuate there are no safe routes to the north and no safe havens with sufficient sanitary facilities and food supplies.
These are basic humanitarian requirements for evacuations, she said in Geneva.
"There are strong indications that this is being conducted in violation of international humanitarian law," she said.
"This morning is one of the darkest in this seven-months-long nightmare," said Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Conflict continues elsewhere in Gaza
The military arm of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades, again attacked the Israeli border crossing Kerem Shalom with rockets on Tuesday.
The al-Qassam Brigades claimed responsibility for the attacks, which triggered warning sirens in the area, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). There was initially no information on casualties.
On Sunday the al-Qassam Brigades attacked Kerem Shalom with around 10 rockets, killing four Israeli soldiers and injuring others.
Qatari delegation arrives in Cairo
Talks on a possible ceasefire in Gaza are meanwhile continuing in Cairo, and a Qatari delegation has arrived in the Egyptian capital, airport sources said.
On Monday Hamas said it had approved a proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza war put forward by mediators Egypt and Qatar.
Afterwards, Qatar said its delegation would head to Cairo to resume indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, hoping the talks would lead to an agreement for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
