Gaza: As peace negotiations proceed, Israel crosses the Rafah border

Gaza: As peace negotiations proceed, Israel crosses the Rafah border

Images of tanks and armored vehicles near the Gaza side of the Rafah border were made public by the Israeli military.

The Israeli military claims that the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt is now under "operational control" of its forces.

Since Israel and Hamas' conflict began in October, Rafah has served as both a vital entrance gateway for humanitarian supplies and the sole point of escape for those in need.

After heavy fighting all night, a tank brigade entered the crossing location.

The UN issued a warning, stating that Gaza's two primary humanitarian routes were presently "chocked off" due to Rafah's shutdown.

In advance of what it described as a "limited" operation, the Israeli military sent orders on Monday for tens of thousands of residents to start leaving the eastern areas of Rafah city.

According to Hamas, Israel's takeover of the Rafah border was done to thwart efforts by regional peace brokers to achieve a fresh cease-fire agreement.

The armed organization in Palestine said on Monday that it has agreed to a plan put out by Qatar and Egypt, which calls for a few weeks of ceasefire and the release of a number of the captives who are currently being held in Gaza.

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The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that while the plan was "far from meeting Israel's core demands," a high-ranking team will be sent to Cairo to work on a mutually agreeable solution.

Invoking all parties to "go above and beyond to materialize an agreement that is absolutely vital," UN Secretary General António Guterres said, "This is an opportunity that can not be missed."

In retaliation for Hamas' cross-border raid on southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in around 1,200 deaths and more than 250 hostages, Israel began a military operation in Gaza to eliminate the organization.

Since then, more than 34,780 people have died in Gaza, as reported by the health ministry operated by Hamas in the region.

In accordance with an agreement reached in November, Hamas released 240 Palestinian inmates from Israeli prisons and 105 hostages in exchange for a week-long truce. According to Israel, 128 captives are missing, 34 of whom are thought to be dead.

Israel has maintained for a long time that in order to win the conflict, it must destroy the last of the Hamas battalions in Rafah.

However, the UN and Western countries have cautioned that a significant ground attack may have disastrous humanitarian effects given the more than a million displaced Palestinians seeking refuge there.

Monday night, there was a continuous Israeli bombardment, according to witnesses, as flares lit up the sky above the city.

Twenty people were reportedly killed and scores wounded, according to medical sources at the nearby Kuwait Specialized Hospital, who were quoted by the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

In the western Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, Raed al-Derby said that his wife and children perished in a hit that destroyed their family house.

"We are firm and patient here on this land... God willing, we will fight for liberty because that is what we are waiting for," he told the Reuters news agency.

According to reports, the wreckage of two families' houses in al-Jneineh included seven dead.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ordered the estimated 100,000 people of this neighborhood in the east to leave and relocate to a "extended humanitarian area" on Monday. This area extends north from al-Mawasi to the towns of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah in the center.

"Precise" operation to "eliminate Hamas terrorists as well as dismantle Hamas terrorist infrastructure within specific areas of eastern Rafah" was started by Israeli forces, according to a statement released by the IDF on Tuesday morning.

About twenty "terrorists" were killed, it said, as fighter planes and ground troops attacked military buildings, subterranean networks, and other locations from which Hamas operated in the Rafah region.

In addition, the IDF said that after receiving information that the Gazan side of the Rafah border was "being used for terrorist purposes," its forces had "managed to establish operational control" over it.

It reported that four Israeli troops had been killed and several wounded at the neighboring Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday due to mortar rounds launched from the region, however it did not offer any more specifics.

Drone video was published by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) showing an armored vehicle at the crossing with a big Israeli flag flying over it, along with other tanks in the plaza outside the Palestinian Migration Center.

According to an IDF spokesman, Kerem Shalom will reopen when security permits, and the Rafah border has been closed.

Israel has "sentenced the residents of the Strip to death" by shutting Rafah, according to Hisham Edwan, a spokesperson for the Gaza Border Crossing Authority.

Israel, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), has forbidden its employees access to the crossings at Rafah and Kerem Shalom.

According to spokesperson Jens Laerke, "the two main arteries for getting aid into Gaza are currently choked off," he said to reporters in Geneva.

He issued a warning, stating that the UN's storage tanks had "one day of fuel available" and that "if no fuel comes in for a prolonged period of time it would prove an excellent means of putting the humanitarian operation in its grave."

The IDF did not immediately respond to this. However, it has said that it has created other crossings, including two in the north, and that it is dedicated to enabling the delivery of humanitarian supplies into and inside Gaza.

Fuel is "the basis for everything inside Gaza," according to Sam Rose of Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and the biggest humanitarian organization in Gaza, who spoke with the BBC from Rafah.

"The fuel keeps our health centers operating, enables the hospitals to deliver life-saving care, and powers the water lines." Everything comes to a complete stop if that gasoline runs out," he said.

Additionally, Mr. Rose called the circumstances for Rafah's civilian population "absolutely terrible".

"There is a traffic jam on the streets due to people moving about. These individuals come from both within and beyond the evacuation zone; some have even chosen to leave early," he said.

Nevertheless, he said, there was "nowhere safe for them to go".

"People cannot stay atop a sand dune for an extended period of time, which makes up half of the safe zone. The other half is within Khan Younis, which for the last several weeks has been brutally bombarded."

The IDF operation in Rafah and the capture of the Rafah crossing were denounced by Egypt's foreign ministry as a "dangerous escalation" that endangered the lives of Palestinian people.

"Exercise utmost restraint while minimizing pursuing a policy of brinkmanship" that might jeopardize the ceasefire talks was the request made to Israel.