Shortly after Hamas informed the mediators that it had agreed to the ceasefire agreement, the Israeli war cabinet unanimously decided to continue attacks on Rafah in order to put pressure on Hamas.
The Israeli army, which has been carrying out air strikes on some points in the town for the past two days, launched a ground operation in Rafah following the decision. This morning it was announced that the Israeli army had captured the Palestinian side of Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt.
The Israeli army statement said that the 162nd Division and the 401st Armoured Brigade supported army units east of Rafah and took control of the Rafah border crossing from Gaza to Egypt.
The statement said that full control was achieved on the Palestinian side of the gate, which is about 3.5 kilometres from Egypt, and noted that 20 Palestinians were killed during the attack.
It was reported that the Israeli army targeted some buildings near the Rafah Border Crossing in the south of the Gaza Strip with rockets and shelled the areas near the Rafah Border Crossing and the Kerem Abu Salim Border Crossing.
According to Arab media, Israeli troops prevented the passage of aid trucks from Egypt after capturing the Rafah crossing. The Hamas-run crossing authority said in a statement that the Israeli army had ‘completely stopped the movement of people and aid’.
The Israeli army entered the crossing for the first time since October, when its war with Hamas, which is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US, began. The border is the main entry point for aid into Gaza.
Alarabiya TV reported that Israeli troops had raised their flags in Rafah.
In a statement yesterday morning, the Israeli army ordered the evacuation of some areas east of Rafah where displaced Palestinians had taken refuge. According to Israeli army radio, the area east of Rafah is home to around 100,000 Palestinians. Following the announcement, forced displacement began in the east of the area.
