A day before indirect talks on a cease-fire agreement were scheduled to resume, Israel launched a major military offensive against Hamas forces in Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip, seizing key border crossings and pushing into the territory. cut off most of its aid.
Images released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) showed tanks carrying large Israeli flags driving through the garrison and smashing concrete signs that read “We love Gaza.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the attacks would continue until Hamas forces in Rafah are “eliminated” “and throughout the Gaza Strip” or the Islamic extremist group begins releasing hostages. A government spokesperson described the first phase of a broader effort targeting Hamas.
“This is the beginning of our mission to destroy the four remaining Hamas brigades in Rafah. There is no doubt about that,” the spokesperson said.
The Israeli operation began Monday night, hours after Hamas leaders announced they would accept a recent cease-fire offer put forward by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
A ceasefire would be the first cessation of fighting since a weeklong ceasefire in November, when Hamas released about half of the 250 Israeli and other national hostages captured in a surprise attack on Israel in October. During that exchange, Israel released 240 Palestinians from prison.
On-and-off negotiations have since broken down over Hamas, which has refused to release any more hostages without committing to a permanent end to the conflict, and Israel’s insistence on only negotiating a temporary halt.
Israeli officials on Monday accused Hamas of “exaggerating” and undermining Israel’s efforts to end a seven-month war that has devastated Gaza and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless and hungry. He said he is trying to do so.
However, Israel has decided to send a delegation to Cairo, and indirect negotiations are expected to resume within the next few days.
White House National Security Adviser John Kirby said on Tuesday that the United States believes it is possible to bridge the gap between the two countries after seeing the proposal submitted by the mediators, expressing optimism. He showed an attitude.
According to reports, the proposal agreed to by Hamas does not include an immediate and permanent end to hostilities, but includes three successive phases with different ratios of exchange of Palestinian prisoners and hostages in Israeli prisons, and one in Gaza. It includes a series of phased withdrawals of Israeli forces from the area.
Analysts said further negotiations could take days or weeks, during which fighting is likely to continue as both sides seek leverage in negotiations.
International powers, including the United States, Israel’s staunchest ally, have repeatedly warned Israel against a large-scale military operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million people have fled from other parts of Gaza. . Aid agencies are predicting a “humanitarian catastrophe”.
Kirby said Israel told the U.S. its operations in Rafah were limited and aimed at preventing arms and money from being smuggled into Gaza.
Aid workers in the region say the flow of humanitarian aid through the Rafah border has been completely halted and fuel reserves remain only enough to carry out another day of large-scale relief operations in Gaza. said. Parts of Gaza are facing famine, and many areas are facing severe hardship.
“We’re using less fuel than a single gas station. Basically, it’s enough for one day. After that, nothing will work, and hospitals will only be able to stay open for two or three days.” said Georgios Petropoulos, head of the Gaza office of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
This comes after the US military announced it had completed construction of a Gaza support pier, but the Pentagon said weather conditions meant it was unsafe to move the two-part facility into place. said Tuesday.
The pier is intended to facilitate the transportation of aid supplies and is expected to cost at least $320 million.
The Kerem Shalom border crossing, another major access point for aid, was closed after four Israeli soldiers were killed in a barrage of rocket fire earlier this week. Israeli military officials said there was another rocket and mortar attack on the same target on Tuesday.
The Rafah crossing was the only exit for people who needed to leave Gaza for medical treatment that was no longer available within the Strip.
Eight-year-old Rama Abu Khouri has been hospitalized in Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza for a month, waiting for his chance to be discharged to receive treatment for his injured leg.
“My name arrived at the border today, so I have to travel to get treatment for my foot,” she said while holding a toy in her hospital bed. “They were in pain. They’re supposed to have surgery. They couldn’t travel today because the border crossings are closed. I’m sad because they didn’t leave today.”
Israeli military officials said the target of the operation in Rafah was “terrorist infrastructure.”
The Gaza Ministry of Health announced that 54 Palestinians were killed and 96 injured in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours.
On Sunday, the Israeli military directed civilians in the eastern neighborhood of Rafah to the so-called “extended humanitarian zone” around the coastal town of al-Mawashi and the largely deserted city of Khan Yunis. Since the warning, thousands of people have left Rafah in dilapidated trucks, pushing trolleys, donkey carts and on foot, but aid agencies say neither location can handle the new influx. Stated.
The Gaza Health Ministry said a total of 34,789 Palestinians, most of them women and children, were killed in the conflict.
A Hamas attack in October killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians in their homes or attending a music festival.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s grip on power could fall if he loses the support of the far-right coalition, which opposes any concessions to Hamas, but there is also pressure to release the remaining hostages.
“Succumbing to Hamas’s demands would be a terrible defeat for the State of Israel. It would show terrible weakness to both our friends and enemies. This weakness will only bring the next war closer.” Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a statement on Tuesday.
The hostage and missing families forum, an umbrella group, said it had appealed to a number of countries to “influence the Israeli government” and encourage an agreement.
“At this critical moment, while concrete opportunities for hostage release are being considered, it is paramount that governments express strong support for such an agreement,” the group said in a message to ambassadors. ”. All countries whose citizens are among the hostages held by Hamas.
“Now is the time to influence the Israeli government and all other stakeholders to ensure that an agreement is reached that will ultimately bring all of our loved ones home.”
Abu Ubaydah, a spokesman for the Hamas militant group Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, said in a statement on Tuesday that the 70-year-old Israeli hostage died from injuries sustained in Israeli shelling. There was no independent confirmation of this claim.
