Israel enters Rafah and takes over border crossing to Egypt
Published: Tuesday, May 7th 2024, 15:20
العودة إلى البث المباشر
In a dramatic move, Israeli troops advanced into parts of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday night. The only border crossing to Egypt in Rafah is now under Israeli control on the Palestinian side, a senior Israeli military officer announced.
According to Palestinian eyewitnesses, Israeli troops were also spotted on the so-called Philadelphi Corridor - a border strip between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
This is the first time since the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip almost two decades ago that Israeli forces have re-entered the area. Israel assumes that weapons are entering the Gaza Strip via the border with Egypt. Army video footage showed tanks rolling into the Rafah border area. A large Israeli national flag was flying on one of the tanks.
The operation fueled fears of a serious offensive in the city, which is overcrowded with refugees. Most civilians and representatives of international aid organizations had already left the area following evacuation calls by the army on Monday, the military reported.
Confusion over Hamas ceasefire declaration
Shortly before the troops advanced, Hamas declared its agreement to a negotiation proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza war on Monday evening. However, this draft does not meet Israeli demands. The Israeli military said that the proposal was being examined. Israel will send a delegation to Cairo for further negotiations. There, the negotiators Egypt, Qatar and the USA continue to strive for a ceasefire, the release of hostages and prisoners as well as the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
According to the Islamists, the draft ceasefire accepted by Hamas comprises three 42-day phases. The first phase includes the release of 33 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. According to Hamas, however, this could involve both living and already dead hostages. Furthermore, a temporary cessation of fighting, a gradual partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, freedom of movement for unarmed Palestinians in the coastal area and the increased import of humanitarian aid are planned. The second phase would lead to the release of all remaining hostages, the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza and a permanent ceasefire. In the third phase, a three to five-year process to rebuild Gaza is to begin.
Israel quickly classified the proposal as a deceptive maneuver by Hamas and an attempt to stop the operation in Rafah. It was apparently a draft drawn up by Egypt and Qatar, which Israel had not yet agreed to. The Jewish state is demanding the release of live hostages in the first phase and has not yet agreed to a complete end to the war.
Israel still wants to destroy Hamas and end the terrorist organization's rule in the Gaza Strip. Rafah is considered the last bastion of Hamas, where the organization's leadership and hostages are believed to be held. The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre of more than 1,200 people killed by terrorists from Hamas and other groups in Israel on October 7. Israel responded with an offensive in the Gaza Strip in which, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority, 34,789 Palestinians have been killed so far and more than 78,000 others injured.
Egypt condemns Israel's military action in Rafah
Egypt strongly condemned the advance of the Israeli army in Rafah on Tuesday. The Foreign Ministry in Cairo sees this as a "dangerous escalation that threatens the lives of more than a million Palestinians". Egypt called on the Israeli side to exercise maximum restraint and not to play with fire. Israel's neighboring state fears, among other things, that a large-scale offensive in Rafah could lead to a rush of Palestinians across the border.
Rafah is the border crossing from the Gaza Strip to Egypt and is also an important gateway for humanitarian aid deliveries to the sealed-off coastal strip. Both border traffic and the import of humanitarian aid have been suspended for the time being. Meanwhile, Hamas' military wing attacked the Israeli Kerem Shalom border crossing again on Tuesday with rockets and mortar shells. It was only on Sunday that the Qassam Brigades killed four Israeli soldiers in a rocket attack on Kerem Shalom. Kerem Shalom, the most important border crossing for the delivery of aid from Israel to the Gaza Strip, was also closed for the time being as a result.
Israel: "Precise anti-terror deployment on a very limited scale"
The Israeli military representative said on Tuesday that the current developments were a "precise anti-terrorist operation on a very limited scale". Special forces searched the Rafah crossing for terrorists. There were indications that Hamas had misused the Gaza side of the crossing for terrorist purposes.
The news portal "Axios" reported, citing Israeli government officials, that the deployment of tanks and ground units east of Rafah was to be understood as the first phase of the offensive. The takeover of the Rafah border crossing was not only intended to demonstrate Hamas' loss of power in the Gaza Strip. Subsequently, Palestinians with no connection to the Islamists were to be involved in the distribution of aid supplies coming from Egypt to the isolated coastal area.
UN and USA warn of ground offensive
The humanitarian organizations of the United Nations condemned Israel's advance in Rafah. For the civilian population, there are no safe routes to the north and no safe havens with sufficient sanitary facilities and food supplies. These are basic requirements for evacuations, said the spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office, Ravina Shamdasani, on Tuesday in Geneva. If these are not met, it is a case of forced displacement, which could constitute a war crime.
On Monday, Israel ordered around 100,000 Palestinians to leave the eastern part of Rafah for security reasons. The affected residents were told to move to the Al-Mawasi area near the coast, where their supplies of food, water and medicine could be guaranteed.
As things stand at present, the US government does not believe that this is the start of a large-scale offensive by the Israeli military. This was announced by a US government representative in Washington on Monday evening (local time). However, the serious concerns of the American side about such a military offensive in the densely populated area have not changed.
According to the United Nations, there are currently a total of 1.2 million people in Rafah, where otherwise only around 250,000 people live. In recent days and weeks, the US government and other allies of Israel have repeatedly warned of the consequences of a military operation in Rafah.
©كيستون/إسدا
Arabic 
English 
German 
French 
Spanish