The Israeli Army reported that a volley of rockets fired this Sunday from the besieged Gaza Strip towards the border crossing Kerem Shalom killed three soldiers and wounded a dozen more.
Three of the 12 wounded are in serious condition, the army indicated to the AFP. The armed wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the al Qasam Brigades, previously claimed responsibility for the rocket attack that led Israeli authorities to close the crossing, used to bring aid to Gaza.
”Approximately ten projectile launches were identified crossing from the area adjacent to the crossing. Rafah towards the Kerem Shalom area,” the Army said in a brief statement.
Israel had reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing in mid-Decemberafter criticism from numerous international organizations regarding the little humanitarian aid that entered through the southern Rafah crossing, bordering Egypt and designed for the entry of people, but not tons of humanitarian aid.
The target of the attack was a military post from where Israel was supposedly organizing the imminent invasion of Rafah, in addition to coordinating daily bombings in the south of the enclave, according to official Hamas television in Gaza.
Since Israel’s war in Gaza began on October 7, 263 soldiers have died in the ground offensive that has lasted almost 7 months, according to data from the Israeli Army.
On the Palestinian side, more than 34,600 people have lost their livesaccording to the Strip’s Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians – although it highlights that more than 70% of the victims are women and children.
Israel and Hamas accused each other of obstructing negotiations that resumed this Saturday in Cairo with international mediation to reach a truce in the Gaza Strip, after almost seven months of war.
The mediators – Qatar, Egypt and the United States – sat down with the Islamist movement’s delegation to hear their response to the latest truce proposal, submitted at the end of April.
This offer includes a 40-day cessation of fighting and an exchange of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since October 7 in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
A Hamas leader reiterated late Saturday that the Palestinian Islamist movement will not accept “under any circumstances” an agreement that does not include explicitly the end of the war.
He had previously indicated that the negotiations did not allow for “any evolution” at the moment. “Today’s negotiations are over and there will be a new round tomorrow,” he added.
An Israeli leader had already considered Israel’s position shortly before. Hamas as an obstacle to any agreement.
“So far, Hamas has not abandoned its demand to end the war, thus obstructing the possibility of reaching an agreement,” he told the AFP the senior Israeli official, on condition of anonymity.
The official denied reports that Israel had agreed to end the war in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas.
Israeli bombing continued in Gaza, especially in Rafah, where around 1.5 million Palestinians are crowded.
(With information from AFP and EFE)
