Israel seizes Gaza’s vital Rafah crossing
US says it isn’t the full invasion many fear
ISRAELI TROOPS seized control of Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday in what the White House described as a limited operation, as fears mount of a full-scale invasion of the southern city and ceasefire talks with Hamas remain on a knife’s edge.
The UN warned of a potential collapse of the flow of aid to Palestinians from the closure of Rafah and the other main crossing into Gaza, Kerem Shalom, at a time when officials say northern Gaza is experiencing “full-blown famine”.
The Israeli foray overnight came after hours of whiplash in the now seven-month-old Israel-Hamas war, with the militant group saying Monday it accepted a ceasefire proposal that Israel insisted fell short of its core demands.
The high-stakes diplomatic moves and military brinkmanship left a glimmer of hope alive – if only barely – for a deal to bring at least a pause in the war, which has killed more than 34,700 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and has devastated the Gaza Strip.
By capturing the Rafah crossing, Israel gained full control over the entry and exit of people and goods for the first time since it withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005, though it has long maintained a blockade of the coastal enclave in cooperation with Egypt.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the capture of the crossing an “important step” toward dismantling Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel would “deepen” the Rafah operation if the talks on the hostage deal failed.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the operation along the Gaza-Egypt border in eastern Rafah was not a full-on invasion of the city that President Joe Biden has repeatedly warned against on humanitarian grounds. He said Israel had described it as “an operation of limited scale and duration” aimed at cutting off Hamas arms smuggling.
Fighting forced the evacuation of the Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital, one of the main medical centres receiving people wounded in airstrikes on Rafah in recent weeks. It was not immediately clear how many patients had been moved to other facilities.
The looming operation threatens to widen a rift between Israel and its main backer, the United States, which says it is concerned over the fate of around 1.3 million Palestinians crammed into Rafah, most of whom have fled fighting elsewhere.
Biden warned Netanyahu again Monday against launching an invasion of the city after Israel ordered 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate from parts of Rafah. But Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down his government if he calls off the offensive or makes too many concessions in ceasefire talks.