Israeli forces have completely closed the Erez border crossing in Rafah, between Egypt and Gaza, to the passage of people and any humanitarian aid after taking military control of this area on the Palestinian side, the spokesman for the United Nations Humanitarian Coordination Office, Jens Laerke, announced this Tuesday.
“Israel’s defense forces are completely ignoring all warnings of what this could mean for civilians and for humanitarian operations throughout the Gaza Strip,” he denounced, in relation to this blockade that leaves no access to further aid. essential for the survival of the entire population of this Palestinian territory.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed they have “operational control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing,” according to an official
The announcement came after what the IDF called as “targeted attacks” against Hamas in eastern Rafah.
According to the Chinese news agency, Xinhua, at least 20 people were killed in Israel’s continued attacks on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. And he quotes the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
According to the report, Israel attacked at least four residential buildings in Rafah, injuring dozens of people.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, also said in a press release on Tuesday that its militants “attacked Israeli soldiers stationed around the Rafah crossing.”
Stop the fire
Israel’s advance on Rafah, despite warnings from the West, comes as ceasefire talks are set to resume in Cairo after Hamas said it would accept a deal hammered out by Egyptian mediators. However, Israel rejected it as “far from satisfying” its “fundamental demands,” but said it would send a delegation to negotiate.
It is unclear exactly what Hamas has agreed to, but the proposal is believed to include the release of hostages and the return of displaced Palestinians within Gaza in a three-phase plan.
But Israel’s war cabinet voted in favor of continuing operations.
The war began when Hamas fighters swept into southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking 252 hostages.
More than 34,700 people have died in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
The Erez crossing, sealed
Through the Rafah crossing, now under Israeli control, until now most of the limited humanitarian assistance entered that Israel has allowed since the start of the war last October.
The Kerem Shalom secondary crossing, between Gaza and Israel, where a small volume of humanitarian supplies has been entering since last December It was closed again a few days ago by Israel and it was not reopened despite a commitment to the United States that it would do so.
“This means that now the two main arteries for getting aid into Gaza They are sealed, which means that this morning – when this situation became known – It has been one of the darkest in the seven long months how long this nightmare lasts,” Laerke lamented.
The Israeli authorities They are also not allowing UN humanitarian personnel approaches the border crossing to coordinate the resumption of humanitarian movements.
The limitations imposed by Israel on the flow of humanitarian supplies that could enter Gaza is the reason why virtually all aid has been distributed almost immediately upon entry into the territory and that there are no reserves of food, drinking water or fuel so the trucks can run.
Without fuel “trucks, generators (from hospitals and other essential places) and communication equipment are in danger. Everything stops working without diesel“explained the spokesperson.
76% of the territory of the town of Rafah is included in the civilian evacuation area ordered by Israel and where also There are three medical centers and six warehouses for humanitarian use.
On Monday morning, Israel ordered 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate east of Rafah to the Khan Younisa city completely razed, where there is nothing standing, except hospitals, and the buildings that remain are on the verge of collapse
Khan Younis, in ruins. Photo: EFELaerke confirmed that in the last few hours the displaced population in Rafah has reacted with panic and desperation to the warning of the Israeli armed incursion that took place at night, moving again even towards the devastated north of Gaza.
The UN indicated that it will try to find out from the Israeli authorities if they also has stopped at the Kerem Shalom crossing the scanning of trucks that were due to bring aid to Gaza in the coming hours and days at any of the entry points, including Erez in the north of the enclave, open for reduced volumes of aid for the hundreds of thousands of people who remain in that sector of Gaza.
