The Israeli army announced on Monday evening that “targeted strikes” had been launched in Rafah against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Israel’s wartime government approved a military operation in southern Gaza City, hours after Hamas said it had accepted a cease-fire offer from Egypt and Qatar.
An AFP correspondent reported that there was heavy shelling in Rafah on the eve of talks on a ceasefire offer from the Gaza Strip, the return of Palestinians displaced by the war and the exchange. of hosts and prisoners with the aim of achieving “permanent settlement”.
Both a Palestinian security official and an Egyptian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that Israeli tanks had entered Rafah, coming just 200 meters from the Egyptian border.
An Egyptian official confirmed that the operation appeared to be limited. He and the Al-Aqsa Hamas TV channel reported that Israeli officials had told Egypt that the soldiers would be withdrawn from service after the operation was over.
The Israeli army has not commented further.
On Monday, the Israeli army said it had ordered the evacuation of about 100,000 people from eastern Rafah ahead of an expected attack on the southern Gaza city.
On Sunday, four Israeli soldiers were killed when Hamas militants fired projectiles into southern Israel near the Rafah crossing.
The White House on Monday continued to express concern to US-allied Israel about the catastrophic consequences of a large-scale military operation in the densely populated areas of Rafah.
A truce would end the seven-month war in the Gaza Strip, but it is not clear whether it can be agreed to. Israel confirmed that the mediators’ cease-fire offer did not meet its “basic demands”.
More than a million people, fleeing the Israeli military offensive in other parts of the Gaza Strip, have crowded into tents and overcrowded apartments in Rafah. Israel says Rafah is Hamas’ last stronghold, but Israel’s closest ally, the United States, is against a full-scale attack on the city, which straddles Egypt, unless Israel comes up with a “credible” plan to protect civilians in the city.
The war in the Gaza Strip has forced approximately 80% of the region’s 2.3 million residents from their homes, and extensive damage has been done to apartments, hospitals, mosques and schools in several cities. According to the health authorities controlled by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the death toll in the area exceeds 34,500 people.
The war began on October 7, when “Hamas” carried out a massacre in southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250 people. Israel says the militants are still holding around 100 hostages, and more than 30 others have died in captivity.
2024-05-07 08:01:54
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