by Mohammad Salem and Nidal al-Mughrabi
RAFAH, Gaza Strip/CAIRO (Reuters) – The Israeli army on Tuesday took control of the Palestinian part of the Rafah border crossing which normally links the Gaza Strip to Egypt and soldiers were deployed in the he east of the city which suffered intense nighttime bombardments.
This operation was launched the day after Hamas approved a ceasefire offer presented by Egypt and Qatar, immediately rejected by the Israeli government which saw it as a “ruse” by the Islamist movement.
Israeli tanks and planes targeted several areas of the large city in the south of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing around twenty people, according to a report released by Palestinian health authorities.
“The Israeli occupier has condemned the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip to death by closing the Rafah border crossing,” denounced Hicham Edwouan, spokesperson for the Palestinian agency responsible for the borders.
The Kerem Shalom entry point, south of Rafah, is also closed according to UN agencies. “The two main arteries for bringing aid into Gaza are currently cut,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs.
Announced long ago, the Israeli incursion aims to eradicate the thousands of Hamas fighters who are believed to have holed up there and, possibly, to free dozens of hostages who are believed to be held there.
By carrying out his threat, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is defying the United States, which has increased its warnings, saying it fears a humanitarian disaster.
“There are no longer any safe areas in Gaza,” lamented the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, who said he feared numerous civilian victims.
TALKS CONTINUE IN CAIRO
Israel, for its part, claims that the operations are being carried out in areas which have been largely emptied of their civilian populations.
Talks for a ceasefire are to continue this Tuesday in Cairo where a Qatari delegation is expected, as well as an Israeli delegation made up of mid-rank envoys.
A Hamas delegation could also arrive in the Egyptian capital on Tuesday evening or Wednesday, a Palestinian source close to the discussions said.
The Palestinian Islamist group nevertheless considered that the Israeli incursion in Rafah aimed to undermine the negotiations.
Hamas announced on Monday that it had accepted the ceasefire proposal in the Gaza Strip presented by Egypt and Qatar, but Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed that Hamas’ latest truce “proposals” did not meet Hamas’ demands. Israel.
A source familiar with the negotiations, however, told Reuters that this proposal accepted by Hamas is the one that Israel submitted to the mediators on April 27, without the main elements of the text having been modified.
An Israeli official, on the contrary, affirmed that this was not the original version of the truce proposal discussed last week in Cairo, specifying that it was not acceptable as is.
He described the endorsement given by the Palestinian movement to this “softened” proposal as a “ruse” aimed at making Israel appear as the party refusing peace.
(Mohammad Salem, Nidal al-Mughrabi and Henriette Chacar; French version Nicolas Delame)
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