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Israeli Forces Seize Rafah Border Spot 05/07 06:08
Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza's vital Rafah border crossing on
Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into
the southern city even as cease-fire negotiations with Hamas remained on a
knife's edge.
CAIRO (AP) -- Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza's vital Rafah border
crossing on Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and
moved into the southern city even as cease-fire negotiations with Hamas
remained on a knife's edge.
The foray came after hours of whiplash in the Israel-Hamas war, with the
militant group on Monday saying it accepted an Egyptian-Qatari mediated
cease-fire proposal. Israel, however, insisted the deal did not meet its core
demands.
The high-stakes diplomatic moves and military brinkmanship left a glimmer of
hope alive -- if only barely -- for an accord that could bring at least a pause
in the 7-month-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli incursion overnight appeared to be short of the full-fledged
offensive into Rafah that Israel has planned, and it was not immediately known
if it would be expanded. The looming operation has raised global alarm over the
fate of around 1.3 million Palestinians crammed into the city -- and threatened
to widen a rift between Israel and its main backer, the United States.
U.S. President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
again on Monday against launching an invasion of the city after Israel ordered
100,000 Palestinians to evacuate from eastern parts of Rafah.
The Israeli 401st Brigade entered the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing early
Tuesday, the Israeli military said, taking "operational control" of the crucial
border point. Footage released by the military showed Israeli flags flying from
tanks that seized the area. Details of the video matched known features of the
crossing.
Both the Rafah crossing and the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and
Gaza -- the two main routes for entry points for aid to the beleaguered
territory -- have been closed for at least the past two days. Though smaller
entry points still operate, the closure is a blow to efforts to maintain the
flow of food, medicine and other supplies that are keeping Gaza's population
alive at a time when officials say the northern part of the enclave is already
experiencing "full-blown famine."
Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the U.N. humanitarian affairs office known as
OCHA, said Israeli authorities have denied it access to the Rafah crossing. He
warned that disruption at Rafah could break the fragile aid operation, saying
all the fuel keeping the humanitarian work moving comes through the crossing.
"It will plunge this crisis into unprecedented levels of need, including the
very real possibility of a famine," he said. The Israeli military "is ignoring
all warnings about what this could mean for civilians and for the humanitarian
operation across the Gaza Strip."
The military also carried out a flurry of strikes and bombardment across
Rafah overnight, killing at least 23 Palestinians, including at least six women
and five children, according to hospital records seen by The Associated Press.
Mohamed Abu Amra said his wife, two brothers, sister and niece were killed
when a strike flattened their home as they slept. "We did nothing. ... We don't
have Hamas," he said. "We found fire devouring us. The house was turned upside
down."
The Israeli military claimed it seized the Rafah crossing after receiving
intelligence it was "being used for terrorist purposes." The military did not
provide evidence to immediately support the assertion, though it said Hamas
fighters near the crossing launched a mortar attack that killed four Israeli
troops and wounded others near Kerem Shalom on Sunday.
The military also said that ground troops and airstrikes targeted suspected
Hamas positions in Rafah.
An Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson declined to immediately comment on
the Israeli seizure of the crossing.
Egypt has previously warned that any seizure of Rafah -- which is supposed
to be part of a demilitarized border zone -- or an attack that forces
Palestinians to flee over the border into Egypt would threaten the 1979 peace
treaty with Israel that's been a linchpin for regional security.
Israel's plans to attack Rafah have also raised fears of a dramatic surge in
civilian deaths in a campaign of bombardments and offensives that has killed
more than 34,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. The assault
has leveled large swaths of the territory and left people scrambling for food,
water and medicine.
The Rafah operation has also deepened the divide between Netanyahu and Biden
over the conduct of the war. Netanyahu says attacking Rafah -- which Israel
says is Hamas' last major stronghold in the territory -- is crucial to the goal
of destroying Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.
In that unprecedented Hamas raid, militants killed some 1,200 people and
took around 250 others as hostages back to Gaza. Israeli critics say Netanyahu
is concerned about his government's survival, since hard-line partners in his
coalition could bolt if he signs onto a deal before a Rafah invasion.
In their call Monday, Biden told Netanyahu that a cease-fire deal was the
best way to win the return of the hostages still held by Hamas and believed to
number around 100, along with the bodies of around 30 others.
As Israel announced it would push ahead with operations in Rafah, it said
the cease-fire proposal that Hamas agreed to did not meet its "core demands."
But it said it would send a delegation to Egypt to continue negotiations.
An Egyptian official and a Western diplomat said the draft Hamas accepted
had only minor changes in wording from a version the U.S. had earlier pushed
for with Israeli approval. The changes were made in consultation with CIA chief
William Burns, who embraced the draft before sending it to the Palestinian
group, the diplomat and official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to
discuss the internal deliberations.
The White House said Burns was discussing the Hamas response with the
Israelis and other regional officials.
According to a copy released by Hamas after it acceptance, the proposal
outlines a phased release of the hostages alongside the gradual withdrawal of
Israeli troops from the entire enclave and ending with a "sustainable calm,"
defined as a "permanent cessation of military and hostile operations."
In the first, 42-day stage of the cease-fire, Hamas would release 33
hostages -- including women, children, older adults and the ill -- in return
for the release of hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, and Israeli
forces would withdraw from parts of Gaza. The parties would then negotiate the
terms of the next stage, under which the remaining civilian men and soldiers
would be released, while Israeli forces would withdraw from the rest of Gaza.
Hamas has demanded an end to the war and complete Israeli withdrawal in
return for the release of all hostages. Publicly, Israeli leaders reject that
trade-off, vowing the war will continue until the hostages are all released --
and Hamas is destroyed.
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