Israeli forces seize Gaza’s Rafah crossing, threatening aid and jeopardizing ceasefire negotiations

World News

The UN has warned of a potential collapse in the flow of aid to the Palestinians following the closure of Rafah and the other main crossing into Gaza, Kerem Shalom, at a time when officials say northern Gaza is experiencing a “widespread famine”.

By SAMY MAGDY, MELANIE LIDMAN and LEE KEATH, Associated Press

May 7, 2024 | 11:44 a.m.

CAIRO (AP) — An Israeli tank brigade took control of Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing Tuesday as Israel ignored urgent warnings from close allies and launched an incursion into the southern city even as ceasefire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife edge.

The UN has warned of a potential collapse in the flow of aid to the Palestinians following the closure of Rafah and the other main crossing into Gaza, Kerem Shalom, at a time when officials say northern Gaza is experiencing a “widespread famine”.

The overnight Israeli incursion came after hours of whiplash in the now seven-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, with the militant group saying on Monday it was accepting a ceasefire proposal negotiated by Egypt and Qatar. Israel, however, insisted that the deal did not meet its main demands.

High-stakes diplomatic moves and military brinkmanship left a glimmer of hope – if only barely – that a deal would bring at least a pause in the war, which has killed more than of 34,700 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and devastated the Gaza Strip.

By capturing Rafah, Israel gained full control of the entry and exit of people and goods for the first time since it withdrew its soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005, although it has long maintained a blockade of the coastal enclave in cooperation with Egypt.

The incursion appears to fall short of the full-fledged offensive against Rafah that Israel has planned and could have been a pressure tactic in ceasefire talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it an “important step” toward dismantling Hamas’ military and government capabilities.

The fighting forced the evacuation of the Abou Youssef al-Najjar hospital, one of the main medical centers which in recent weeks received people injured in airstrikes on Rafah. It is unclear how many patients were transferred to other facilities.

The impending operation threatens to widen the divide between Israel and its main donor, the United States, which says it is concerned about the fate of around 1.3 million Palestinians crowded into Rafah, most of whom fled the fighting elsewhere.

US President Joe Biden on Monday again warned Netanyahu against launching an invasion of the city after Israel ordered 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate parts of Rafah. But Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners have threatened to overthrow his government if he calls off the offensive or makes too many concessions in ceasefire negotiations.

Palestinians’ cheers of joy following Hamas’ acceptance of the ceasefire turned to fear on Tuesday. Families fled eastern Rafah neighborhoods on foot or in vehicles and donkey carts filled with mattresses and supplies. Children watched as their parents dismantled tents in the sprawling camps that had filled Rafah for months to head to their next destination – which for many remained uncertain.

“Netanyahu only cares about emerging victorious. He doesn’t care about the children. I don’t think he will accept” a deal, Najwa al-Saksuk said as her family packed their bags while Israeli strikes echoed amid plumes of black smoke.

The families of the hostages also saw their hope turn to despair. Rotem Cooper, whose 85-year-old father Amiram was among many kidnapped in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, denounced what he sees as government inaction on a deal.

“We see all kinds of explanations: this is not the deal we offered them, Hamas changed it without saying anything,” Cooper said during a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday. He questions whether military pressure is an effective negotiation tactic.

Israel’s 401st Brigade took “operational control” of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing early Tuesday, the army said. Military footage showed Israeli flags flying on tanks in the area. It also said troops and airstrikes had targeted suspected Hamas positions in Rafah.

The army said it had intelligence that the crossing was being “used for terrorist purposes”, but did not immediately provide evidence. It said Hamas fighters near the crossing launched a mortar attack on Sunday that killed four Israeli soldiers near Kerem Shalom and that more mortars and rockets were fired from the area on Tuesday.

Hamas said its fighters clashed with Israeli troops barricaded in a building in Rafah and fired rockets at a military installation near Kerem Shalom.

The Rafah crossing with Egypt and the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel are critical entry points for food, medicine and other supplies to keep Gaza’s 2.3 million residents alive. They have been closed for at least two days, although the smaller Erez crossing between Israel and northern Gaza continues to operate.

Israeli authorities denied the UN humanitarian affairs office access to the Rafah crossing on Tuesday, its spokesman Jens Laerke said, warning that the disruptions could interrupt the fragile aid operation. All fuel for aid trucks and generators goes through Rafah, and Laerke said there is a “very, very short buffer, about a day’s worth of fuel.”

Israeli strikes and shelling on Rafah have killed at least 23 Palestinians, including at least six women and five children, according to hospital records.

Mohamed Abu Amra said his wife, two brothers, sister and niece were killed when a strike razed their house as they slept. “We didn’t do anything. … We don’t have Hamas,” he said.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry condemned the seizure of the crossing, calling it a “dangerous escalation.”

Egypt has already warned that any capture of Rafah – which is supposed to be part of a demilitarized border zone – or an attack that forces Palestinians to flee across the Egyptian border would threaten the 1979 peace treaty with Israel, which is a pillar of regional security. .

Netanyahu said an offensive to take Rafah – which Israel says is Hamas’ last major stronghold in Gaza – was crucial to the goal of destroying Hamas after its October 7 attack on southern Israel that started the war. In the unprecedented raid, Hamas and other militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and returned about 250 hostages to Gaza.

The United States, Egypt and Qatar have spent months trying to negotiate a deal on a ceasefire and the release of the 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others still held by Hamas, which insists it will not release them until Israel ends the deal. war and withdraws from Gaza.

Netanyahu and other senior officials have publicly rejected the demands, saying they plan to resume the offensive after any hostage releases and continue it until Hamas is destroyed. For now, the hostages constitute Hamas’ most powerful bargaining chip and potential human shields for its leaders.

Israel said the ceasefire proposal accepted by Hamas did not meet its “fundamental demands.” But he announced that he would send a delegation to Egypt to continue negotiations. An Egyptian official said delegations from Hamas and Qatar arrived in Cairo on Tuesday.

An Egyptian official and a Western diplomat said the draft accepted by Hamas included only minor changes in wording from a version the United States had previously pushed with Israel’s approval. The changes were made in consultation with CIA chief William Burns, who approved the draft before sending it to Hamas, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the deliberations.

The White House said Burns was discussing Hamas’ response with Israelis and other regional officials.

According to a copy published by Hamas, the proposal provides for a gradual release of the hostages alongside the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops from the entire enclave and ending with a “lasting calm”, defined as a “permanent cessation of military operations and hostile.