Pro-Palestine protesters march, picket outside Met Gala in New York
Pro-Palestine protesters picketed outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art while celebrities inside attended the Met Gala.
Israel’s military said it took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Tuesday, as the country’s war cabinet vowed to push ahead with its plan to target Hamas in the enclave’s southernmost city and as a fresh round of cease- fire talks summarized in Cairo.
Hamas said in a statement that Israel’s incursion into Gaza’s Rafah crossing sought to undermine cease-fire efforts and called on the US and the international community to pressure Israel to halt the “escalation.”
The Rafah crossing is the only gateway for humanitarian aid between Gaza and Egypt. It was not immediately clear whether the presence of Israeli tanks and soldiers at the crossing had fully halted the flow of aid, but the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said its access to the crossing was denied by the Israeli authorities.
In a briefing, Israel’s Defense Forces said its troops established “operational control” of the Rafah border crossing “following intelligence it was being used for terrorist purposes.” After warning Palestinians to evacuate eastern parts of Rafah on Monday, Israel carried out strikes on the city as it appeared to ramp up its preparations for a bigger military offensive in the area, where more than a million Palestinians have been sheltering.
Escape from Gaza Palestinians are paying tens of thousands of dollars to flee the enclave
A diplomatic push to reach a new Israel-Hamas cease-fire seven months into the war is in flux. Israel sent a delegation to Cairo after Hamas leaders on Monday said they would accept a recent proposal for a deal. However, it’s not clear whether the agreement Hamas said it would accept meets Israel’s requirements. The Biden administration said it is reviewing Hamas’ cease-fire agreement and would be discussing it with partners.
Developments:
∎The Hamas cease-fire proposal took Israel by “complete surprise,” an Israeli source told The Times of Israel. Israeli officials are still exploring the nuances of the offer, the source said.
∎ Egypt warned that Israel’s operation in Rafah threatened to ceasefire efforts.
OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said aid agencies in Gaza have only one day of fuel on hand. If no fuel comes in, “it would be a very effective way of putting the humanitarian operation in its grave,” he told the Times of Israel.
“The two main arteries for getting aid into Gaza are currently choked off,” he said, referring to the Rafah crossing from Egypt and the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel. The World Health Organization said Israel is also not allowing patient transfers through Rafah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing intensifying pressure to accept an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal and avert a full Rafah ground invasion by Israel’s military.
Aid groups and Israel’s international partners say a dire humanitarian situation for Gaza’s civilians would be further exacerbated by any such invasion and that there is no credible plan to protect them.
Maps and graphics: As war wages on in Gaza, these visuals show the impact of the Hamas-Israel conflict
The families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas are demanding their loves ones are given priority.
“At this crucial moment, while a tangible opportunity for the release of the hostages is on the table, it is of the utmost importance that your government manifests its strong support for such an agreement,” said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group that represents hostage families, in a statement Tuesday.
And Netanyahu is also attempting to appeal to far-right nationalist partners in his ruling coalition who have appeared to signal that they would withdraw support for his government if the Rafah invasion, aimed at rooting out what Israel has characterized as Hamas’ last stronghold in Gaza, does not happen.
