#Axios #Israeli #incursion #Rafah #army #control #crossing
The American news website Axios quoted informed sources as saying that Israeli army forces are about to take control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip in the coming hours.
The Rafah crossing is a major entry point for humanitarian aid into Gaza, and Israel says the eastern part of the city is a strategic location for Hamas. More than a million displaced Palestinians live in the city.
The Israel Defense Forces plan to control the Palestinian side of the crossing and monitor all aid coming into Gaza, a knowledgeable source told Axios.
The source said that Israel believes that controlling the Rafah crossing will eliminate Hamas’ key ability to show that it still rules Gaza.
The source said that Israel wants in the coming days and weeks for Palestinians from Gaza who are not affiliated with Hamas to participate in monitoring and distributing aid entering the Strip from Egypt.
Israeli officials said that Israeli tanks and other ground forces entered the eastern suburbs of Rafah on Monday evening as part of the first phase of the Israeli military operation in southern Gaza City.
Fire belts on Rafah
Palestinian media said that Israeli aircraft were carrying out violent fire belts in the vicinity Rafah crossing Wild.
Palestinian television confirmed that there were deaths and injuries as a result of an Israeli raid that targeted the Brahma area in Tel Sultan neighborhood West Rafah.
On the other hand, civil defense crews said that they were trying to control a fire that broke out in a house that was bombed by Israeli warplanes west of Rafah, and they were still recovering a number of dead and injured people from under the rubble of the house.
Kuwait Specialized Hospital in Rafah announced the arrival of 5 dead and a number of wounded as a result of the targeting of a house in the Al-Brahma neighborhood in Tal Al-Sultan in Rafah.
According to witnesses and Palestinian security sources, Rafah is currently being subjected to intense Israeli strikes.
American concern
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of a major Israeli operation in Rafah, saying that an Israeli invasion of the city of Rafah would be intolerable.
An American official also expressed the United States’ concern about the latest Israeli strikes on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, but pointed out that Washington believes that they do not represent Israeli military operation Big in Rafah.
The official added that American officials are focusing on preventing a major military operation in the densely populated areas of Rafah, noting that the Israelis do not appear to be implementing that.
