Aid agencies warned yesterday that Gaza is running out of food after Israel seized the Rafah border crossing.
Israeli tanks dramatically rolled into the main entry point for aid entering via Egypt and took “operational control”. Aid agencies said its closure, along with the other main crossing, Kerem Shalom, risked a disaster for millions.
UNICEF has said Gaza is on the “precipice of famine”. UN officials accused Israel of not allowing humanitarian workers access to the Rafah crossing.
Kerem Shalom was closed after a Hamas rocket attack last weekend killed four Israeli soldiers. UNICEF’s Tess Ingram said: “Nothing has got into Gaza for the last 24 hours, which is devastating.
“No aid coming in means that in a day or two, distribution of that aid will stop and we’ll run out of supplies that remain in Gaza. I was at that crossing just a few weeks ago and it was a hubbub of activity with people coming in and out but also an enormous amount of aid moving in. It’s heartbreaking to see it empty and with tanks there.”
UN Palestinian refugee aid agency UNRWA called the situation “extremely concerning”. Jens Laerke, from the UN’s humanitarian office, said it had just a day of fuel left to sustain its entire Gaza operation.
He said: “Rafah is in the crosshairs. IDF is ignoring all warnings about what this could mean for civilians. I think it’s fair to say that the reports that we get from colleagues on the ground is that panic and despair has taken hold: People are terrified.”
Israel said that both crossings would remain closed “for the time being”. Of the 252 Israelis kidnapped by Hamas in the October 7 terror attacks, about 130 are still unaccounted for and 34 presumed dead.
At least 34,789 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive in Gaza since October 7, Gaza’s Health Ministry said yesterday. Special forces teams scoured eastern areas of Rafah yesterday looking for “terrorist infrastructure” and destroyed several tunnels. Israel said 20 Hamas members were killed.
One of the city’s main hospitals was forced to evacuate yesterday due to intense Israeli strikes in the area. Israeli officials said they seized control after receiving intelligence the area was “being used for terrorist purposes”. The Israeli military said ground troops and airstrikes targeted suspected Hamas positions in Rafah yesterday. A tank was filmed flattening an “I Love Gaza” sign at the crossing.
Fears remain that Israel will launch an all-out assault on the city – a move the US strongly opposes. Israeli government spokesman Avi Hyman defended the ground offensive in eastern Rafah.
He said: “We said from the beginning of the war that we needed to take out the 24 Hamas battalions. The objective is to destroy Hamas and bring home the hostages, and ensure Gaza doesn’t pose a threat to Israel again.”
Egypt condemned the operation and said its takeover of the crossing “threatens the lives of more than a million Palestinians”. It also warned Israel not to jeopardise “strenuous efforts made to reach a sustainable truce”. Hours earlier, Hamas said it accepted an Egyptian-Qatari mediated ceasefire proposal.
Israel initially said it did not meet its core demands – but sent representatives to Cairo for further talks. The mid-level envoys are tasked with studying the amended plan. It proposes a phased release of hostages and gradual troop withdrawal, ending with a “permanent cessation” of military operations.
Israel previously said it would not agree to either a full withdrawal of its forces or a permanent ceasefire as part of a hostage release deal. But if the envoys believe a deal is within reach, then a top-level delegation including Mossad chiefs will travel to negotiate. A senior Hamas official said it will be Israel’s “last chance” to release its hostages.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described it as a decisive moment for the Middle East region. He said a full-scale assault on Rafah would be “a strategic mistake, a political calamity and a humanitarian nightmare”. He added: “Make no mistake – a full-scale assault on Rafah would be a human catastrophe.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urged parties involved in ceasefire talks to continue and repeated his call for an “immediate humanitarian pause” in the conflict to release hostages and get more aid into Gaza. He said Israel and Hamas must then “use that pause to build a more lasting and sustainable ceasefire”.
He said he is “deeply concerned about the incursion of Rafah given the humanitarian consequences”. Sharone Lifschitz, whose 83-year-old father Oded is still missing and presumed to be held hostage, urged Israel to back a deal.
She told the BBC: “If my father is alive it is a miracle, we can’t wait to have him back. If it doesn’t happen now it is going to take very long. We know some of them are dead, we know that they are in harm’s way. We need to find a way to negotiate long term deals to provide the security of citizens of Israel and Palestine. I urge the government to do all it can to bring back our people.”
Sharone’s mother was freed in October but she has had no proof of life for her father since October 20. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday the Rafah crossing capture is an “important step” toward dismantling Hamas’ military and economic capabilities.