JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said Wednesday it had reopened the Kerem Shalom border to the Gaza Strip after days of closure, but the United Nations said no humanitarian aid had yet arrived and workers had fled. He also said that there was no one on the Palestinian side to receive aid. Israeli forces are invading the area.
The Kerem Shalom crossing between Gaza and Israel was closed over the weekend after a Hamas rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers nearby, and on Tuesday an Israeli tank brigade was occupied the nearby Rafah intersection A closure was forced between Gaza and Egypt. His two facilities are the main terminals for food, medicine and other supplies essential to the survival of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinian population.
It appears that Israel’s advance was not the beginning of a full-scale invasion of the city of Rafah, which Israel had repeatedly promised. But aid workers have warned that a prolonged closure of the two crossings could collapse aid efforts and worsen Gaza’s humanitarian crisis. “Full-scale starvation” It has already begun in the north.
US paused transportation of bombs It made the request to Israel last week, citing concerns that Israel was moving closer to a decision to launch a full-scale attack on Rafah, amid further growing rifts between the two countries’ close allies.
The United States has said it is concerned about the fate of the approximately 1.3 million Palestinians crammed into Rafah, most of them Palestinians. fought and fled elsewhere. Israel maintains that Rafah is Hamas’ last stronghold and that a broader attack there is needed to dismantle the group’s military and governance capabilities.
Meanwhile, the United States, Egypt, and Qatar are stepping up efforts to bridge the gap between them. possible agreement It calls for at least a temporary ceasefire and the release of some Israeli hostages still held by Hamas. Israel has linked the threatened Rafah operation to the fate of those negotiations. CIA Director William Burns, who is flying around the region to discuss the ceasefire, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to discuss private negotiations, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations.
With the capture of Rafah, Israel has taken control of the entire Gaza Strip for the first time since it withdrew its troops and settlers from the strip nearly 20 years ago, but for much of that time it has maintained a blockade with Egyptian cooperation. I’ve done it. The Rafah crossing has been an important conduit for humanitarian aid since the start of the war, and is the only place people can enter and exit. Kerem Shalom is Gaza’s main cargo terminal.
Palestinian doctors treat a girl injured in Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip at a Kuwaiti hospital in the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramez Haboob)
Throughout the night, Associated Press reporters heard sporadic explosions and gunfire near the Rafah intersection. That included two large explosions early Wednesday. The Israeli military reported on Tuesday that six shots were fired from Rafah toward the Kerem Shalom intersection.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, announced that the Kerem Shalom intersection had reopened early Wednesday morning. However, Juliet Touma, UNRWA’s communications director, said as of midday Wednesday no aid had arrived and the UN agency was forced to ration fuel being imported through Rafah.
Meanwhile, the Gaza Ministry of Health announced that at least 46 patients and injured people who were scheduled to leave for treatment on Tuesday remain stranded.
United Nations agencies and aid groups have stepped up humanitarian assistance in recent weeks after Israel lifted some restrictions and opened an additional border in the north under pressure from its closest ally the United States. .
But aid workers say the closure of Rafah, a fuel entry point for trucks and generators, could have serious repercussions, and the United Nations says northern Gaza is already in a dangerous situation. “Full-scale starvation.”
COGAT announced that 60 aid trucks entered from the northern intersection on Tuesday. Before the war, about 500 trucks entered Gaza every day.
The war began on October 7 when Hamas militants broke through Israel’s defenses. struck nearby army bases and rural areasHamas is believed to still be holding around 100 hostages and the bodies of more than 30 hostages after a ceasefire in November freed most of the others.
The war has killed more than 34,800 Palestinians and forced about 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million to flee their homes, Gaza health officials said. Israel’s military operations One of the most deadly and destructive in recent historymuch of Gaza was reduced to rubble.
Biden has repeatedly warned Netanyahu not to launch an invasion of Rafah. But Prime Minister Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners have threatened to collapse his government if he calls off the offensive or makes too many concessions in ceasefire talks.
The United States has historically provided large amounts of military aid to Israel, and that aid has only accelerated since the war began.
The suspended shipments would have consisted of 1,800 2,000 pound (900 kilograms) bombs and 1,700 smaller bombs, with U.S. concerns focused on how large bombs could be used in dense urban environments. A U.S. official said of the condition on Tuesday. Please discuss confidential matters anonymously. The official said a final decision on whether to proceed with the shipment has not yet been made.
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Magdy reported from Cairo and Lidman from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Aamer Madani and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed.
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