Control of the Rafah crossing in Gaza: Israel advances
The Israeli army confirmed Tuesday that it has taken control of the Rafah crossing in Gaza with tanks.
The control of the Rafah crossing in Gaza was achieved after a night of heavy shelling against the east of this southern town bordering Egypt.
Israeli forces continue to check the crossing, the Israeli army said this morning without specifying the number of ground troops present, but stressed that it is a “precise and limited” operation against Hamas targets.
The control of the Rafah crossing in Gaza has a vital aspect in the future of the conflict.
According to a military spokesman, the control of the Rafah crossing in Gaza was carried out by the 401st brigade, composed mostly of tanks, and the elite Givati brigade, and “was prompted by the attack from this area perpetrated by Hamas two days ago, in which four soldiers were killed”, and that according to the army confirmed that this area was being used by militiamen.
Contrary to a statement on Monday, May 6, the Gazan government of Hamas, which warned that the evacuation order of eastern Rafah, commanded by the Israeli army, was having a “limited response”, the military spokesman said that much of the population was able to seek refuge in Al Mawasi, Khan Younis, and that this facilitated the operation.
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Control of the Rafah crossing in Gaza:
Amid the scuffle to take control of the Rafah crossing in Gaza, there were several human losses.
But at least 18 Gazans were killed early Tuesday morning, May 7, 2024, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, after a night of constant shelling also targeting homes, after the Israeli War Cabinet announced late Monday that it would not stop its military “operation” despite continuing to exhaust the possibility of a truce.
The army, for its part, said Tuesday that it had killed 20 suspected militiamen in the area east of Rafah with fighters and ground troops.
But it also said it had discovered three Hamas operational tunnels and destroyed a vehicle with explosives.
In this regard, the same military source confirmed that the Kerem Shalom crossing remains closed since the Hamas attack for “security reasons” and that since Monday no humanitarian aid has entered Gaza, something that “is not expected to change today”.
The entry of humanitarian aid through the Rafah crossing, vital for the supply of the Strip and used by Gazans seeking refuge in Egypt after seven months of war, is also paralyzed.
“The entire eastern region of Rafah was the scene of operations since yesterday and the shelling there did not stop for a moment,” the representative of the Rafah land crossing in the Palestinian enclave confirmed to EFE.
In an early morning press conference, the IDF said that the Kerem Shalom crossing is also currently closed and will reopen once the security situation permits.
“(The crossings) have been out of service since yesterday afternoon and there are no crews due to direct attacks on the entire area, both aid and travelers are suspended,” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office indicated that the Egyptian and Qatari ceasefire offer “falls far short of the demands” of his government, although he agreed to negotiate and announced the upcoming dispatch of a delegation to the mediating countries.
