The Israeli military seized control of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt after conducting targeted strikes against Hamas targets in eastern Rafah overnight.
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that it established “operational control of the Gazan side of the crossing following intelligence that the Rafah Crossing in eastern Rafah was being used for terrorist purposes.” The army posted an image of its tanks entering the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing, closing a key entry point for humanitarian aid into the besieged Palestinian enclave.
The operation is not believed to be the larger invasion of Rafah that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised.
The Rafah offensive began late Monday after Hamas announced it had agreed to a cease-fire proposal mediated by Egypt and Qatar. Hamas’s last-minute acceptance of the proposal took Israel by “complete surprise,” according to the Times of Israel.
As it moved forward with what officials called a “limited” military operation in southern Gaza, Israel said the cease-fire proposal that Hamas agreed to was “far from Israel’s necessary requirements,” and sent a delegation to work on a deal that it can agree upon.
The cease-fire proposal that Hamas agreed to accept included a three-stage truce, ultimately leading to a permanent cease-fire. With each phase lasting 42 days, the deal included the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes, and an exchange of hostages held by Hamas and prisoners held in Israel.
Renewed talks will commence on the latest cease-fire offer in Cairo on Tuesday, an Israeli official told Reuters. The latest round of negotiations comes two days after Hamas leadership walked away due to Israel’s refusal to consider a permanent end to the war.
As the impasse began, Hamas launched rockets from Rafah toward the Israeli border on Sunday, killing at least four Israeli soldiers and injuring ten others. The attack led Israel to close Kerem Shalom, a border crossing for humanitarian aid that permitted entry into southern Gaza. Netanyahu promised to reopen the crossing following a phone call with President Joe Biden on Monday morning.
Ahead of its anticipated offensive, the IDF on Monday ordered some 100,000 Palestinians in certain parts of Rafah to evacuate from the southern Gazan city and move to an Israeli-defined humanitarian zone in Muwasi, where they would find increased humanitarian aid such as field hospitals, tents, food, and water.
In response to the Rafah operation’s onset, Egypt condemned Israel’s military actions as a “dangerous escalation” and warned they could derail the negotiations.
“The Arab Republic of Egypt called on the Israeli side to exercise the utmost levels of restraint, and to stay away from a policy of brinkmanship that has long-term impact, and that would threaten the fate of the strenuous efforts made to reach a sustainable truce inside the Gaza Strip,” Egypt said in a Tuesday statement, while calling on the international community to intervene.
Hamas also said Israel’s incursion aims to undermine the cease-fire talks.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), whose employees have been linked to Hamas, warned “continued interruption” of the Rafah crossing caused by Israel’s seizure will only worsen the already “catastrophic” humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. In a separate statement, the U.N. agency said it is staying put to provide aid to Palestinians but noted its work could be hampered if the Rafah border crossing and others remain closed.
Access to humanitarian assistance is at a critical point, with the U.N. warning that Gaza has only one day of fuel now that the Rafah crossing is controlled by Israel. Over 1.4 million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge in Rafah during the Israel-Hamas war.