CAIRO (AP) — An Israeli tank brigade seized the initiative Tuesday. Rafah border crossing on the Gaza Strip side Military clashes with Egypt also continued as Israel pressed ahead with its offensive in southern cities, even though ceasefire talks with Hamas remain on the brink.
The incident comes after hours of flogging in the Israel-Hamas war, with the militant group announcing on Monday that it had accepted a cease-fire offer brokered by Egypt and Qatar. Israel, on the other hand, argued that the deal did not meet its core demands.
High-stakes diplomatic moves and military brinkmanship have left a glimmer of hope in the deal, which could at least give it pause. First war in 7 months it has destroyed the Gaza Strip.
Israel's overnight invasion appeared to fall short of Israel's planned full-scale attack on Rafah, and it was not immediately clear whether it would be expanded.president joe biden Urgent warning to Israeli prime minister on Monday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu It opposes the launch of an attack on the southern city of Gaza and is increasing pressure for a ceasefire.
Aid groups say the attack was devastating for the roughly 1.4 million Palestinians crammed into Rafah, most of whom have fled the Israeli onslaught elsewhere in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military announced that the Israeli 401st Brigade entered the Rafah border early Tuesday morning and assumed “operational control” of the key border point. Video released by the Israeli army showed Israeli flags flying from tanks occupying the crossing area. Details in the video matched known characteristics of the railroad crossing.
The military also carried out repeated airstrikes and shelling throughout the night across Rafah, killing at least 23 Palestinians, including at least six women and five children, according to hospital records reviewed by The Associated Press.
The Rafah crossing is the main route for aid to enter the besieged enclave and for those able to flee to Egypt to escape. Rafah and the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, another major aid entry point, have been closed for at least the past two days. Although a small entry point remains open, the closure is a blow to efforts to keep food, medicine and other supplies flowing that keep Gazans alive.
Jens Ralke, a spokesman for the UN Humanitarian Affairs Office, warned that the attack on Rafah could collapse the fragile aid operation. He said all fuel entering Gaza is through Rafah and that any disruption would halt humanitarian operations.
“This crisis will plunge us into unprecedented levels of need, including the very real possibility of starvation,” he said.
The Israeli military claimed to have taken over the intersection after receiving information that it was “being used for terrorist purposes.” The military did not immediately provide evidence to support this claim, but it said a mortar attack took place near the Kerem Shalom intersection on Sunday, killing four Israeli soldiers and wounding others. insisted.
The military also said ground forces and airstrikes targeted suspected Hamas positions in Rafah.
Wael Abu Omar, spokesman for the Palestinian Border Authority, confirmed that Israeli forces had taken over the crossing and closed the facility for the time being. He said attacks targeting the area have been carried out since Monday.
An Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson declined to immediately comment on the Israeli seizure.
Egypt has previously captured Rafah, which is supposed to be part of the demilitarized border zone, and if there was an attack that forced Palestinians to flee across the border into Egypt. threaten the 1979 peace treaty In relations with Israel, it is the cornerstone of regional security.
Gaza health officials say Israel's plan to attack Rafah comes amid fears that civilian deaths from shelling and offensives that have killed more than 34,700 Palestinians in the past seven months will rise dramatically. is also causing. This attack leveled a large area of territory; Northern Gaza is in the grip of “full-scale famine.” World Food Program Director Cindy McCain said Sunday.
Operation Rafah also deepened the rift between Netanyahu and Biden over the war effort. Prime Minister Netanyahu said the attack on Rafah, which Israel claims is Hamas' last major stronghold, was critical to the war's goal of annihilating Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.
In this unprecedented Hamas attack, the militants killed around 1,200 people and took the remaining 250 people back to Gaza as hostages. Israeli critics say they fear for Netanyahu's survival because if he signs a deal to stop the Rafah attack, hardliners in the coalition could defect.
In a phone conversation Monday, Biden told Netanyahu that a cease-fire agreement was the best way to win the return of the bodies of about 100 hostages and about 30 others still held by Hamas.
Israel announced it would proceed with the operation in Rafah, but said on Monday that the ceasefire agreement agreed to by Hamas did not meet Israel's “core demands.” But he said he would send a delegation to Egypt to continue negotiations.
Egyptian officials and Western diplomats said the draft accepted by Hamas had only slight changes in wording from one earlier proposed by the United States and approved by Israel. The changes were made in consultation with CIA Director William Burns, who accepted the draft before sending it to Palestinian groups, said the person, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
The White House said Burns was discussing the response to Hamas with Israeli and other regional officials.
The proposal outlined a gradual release of hostages and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave as a whole, culminating in a “permanent cessation of military and hostile activities,” according to a copy released by Hamas after acceptance. It is said that the end will be “sustainable peace,'' defined as “sustainable peace.'' operation. “
During the first 42-day phase of the ceasefire, Hamas released 33 hostages, including women, children, the elderly and the sick, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, and the Israeli military partially will be forced to withdraw. I'm from a part of Gaza. The parties will then negotiate the terms of the next step, under which the remaining civilians and soldiers will be released while Israeli forces will withdraw from the remaining areas of Gaza.
Hamas demanded an end to the war and a complete Israeli withdrawal in exchange for the release of all hostages. In public, Israeli leaders have repeatedly rejected that trade-off and vowed to continue the campaign until Hamas is destroyed.
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Lidman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Ashraf Swayram in El Arish, Egypt, contributed to this report.