CAIRO — Israeli soldiers gained control of Gaza’s crucial Rafah border crossing on Tuesday, and the White House described it as a limited operation, amid concerns of a large-scale invasion of the southern city as negotiations with Hamas for a cease-fire and hostage release remain uncertain.
The U.N. cautioned about the possibility of aid to Palestinians being cut off due to the closure of the Rafah crossing from Egypt and the main crossing into Gaza, Kerem Shalom, from Israel. U.N. officials stated that northern Gaza is facing severe food shortages.
The Israeli incursion occurred after ongoing back and forth in the 7-month-old Israel-Hamas conflict, with the militant group stating on Monday that it accepted a cease-fire proposal that Israel claimed did not meet its core demands.
The high-stakes diplomatic and military moves left some hope for a potential agreement to pause the war, which has caused the deaths of over 34,700 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and has caused extensive damage to the Gaza Strip.
The Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings are crucial entry points for food, medicine, and other supplies for Gaza’s 2.3 million residents. They have been closed for at least the past two days, although the smaller Erez crossing between Israel and northern Gaza remains operational.
By seizing the Rafah crossing, Israel gained complete control over the entry and exit of people and goods for the first time since its withdrawal of soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005. However, it has maintained a blockade of the coastal enclave in cooperation with Egypt for a long time.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the capture of the crossing as a significant step towards weakening Hamas’ military and governing abilities, and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated that Israel would intensify the Rafah operation if negotiations on the hostage deal fail.
Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official based in Beirut, stated that the militant group would not yield to military pressure or threats and would not accept any occupation at the Rafah crossing.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stated that the operation along the Gaza-Egypt border in eastern Rafah was not a full Israeli invasion of the city, as repeatedly cautioned against by President Joe Biden for humanitarian reasons. Kirby mentioned that Israel described it as “an operation of limited scale and duration” aimed at stopping Hamas arms smuggling.
Kirby also expressed hope about the negotiations, suggesting that Israel and Hamas “should be able to close the remaining gaps” to finalize an agreement. He mentioned that CIA chief William Burns will take part in further discussions in Cairo with representatives from Israel, Egypt, and Qatar. Hamas also sent a delegation to Cairo, which will meet separately with the Arab mediators.
“Everybody is coming to the table,” Kirby stated.
Fighting led to the evacuation of the Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital, one of the primary medical centers receiving people injured in airstrikes on Rafah in recent weeks. It was not immediately clear how many patients were transferred to other facilities.
The upcoming operation could make the rift between Israel and its main supporter, the United States, even wider. The United States is worried about the safety of around 1.3 million Palestinians living in Rafah, most of whom fled from fighting in other places.
On Monday, Biden once again cautioned Netanyahu against starting an invasion of the city after Israel told 100,000 Palestinians to leave parts of Rafah. But Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners threatened to bring down his government if he cancels an attack or makes too many concessions in cease-fire talks.
Palestinians who were celebrating Hamas’ acceptance of the cease-fire deal on Tuesday became scared. Families in Rafah’s eastern neighborhoods left on foot or in vehicles and donkey carts loaded with mattresses and supplies. Children watched as parents took down tents in the large camps in Rafah to move to their next destination, which many were unsure of.
“Netanyahu only cares about winning. He doesn’t care about children. I don’t think he’ll agree” to a deal, said Najwa al-Saksuk as her family packed up while Israeli attacks continued with black smoke rising.
The families of the Israeli hostages also went from hopeful to hopeless. Rotem Cooper, whose 85-year-old father, Amiram, was among many abducted during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, criticized what he said was the government’s lack of action on a deal.
“We see all sorts of explanations — ‘This isn’t the deal that we gave them, Hamas changed it without saying something,’” Cooper said at a parliamentary hearing Tuesday. He questioned whether military pressure was an effective bargaining tactic.
Israel’s 401st Brigade took “operational control” of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing early Tuesday, the military said. Military footage showed Israeli flags flying from tanks in the area. It also said troops and airstrikes targeted suspected Hamas positions in Rafah.
The military said it had information that the crossing was “being used for terrorist purposes,” but did not immediately provide evidence. It said Hamas fighters near the crossing launched a mortar attack that killed four Israeli troops near Kerem Shalom on Sunday and that more mortars and rockets were fired from the area Tuesday.
Israeli authorities denied the U.N. humanitarian affairs office access to the Rafah crossing Tuesday, said its spokesman, Jens Laerke. All fuel for aid trucks and generators comes through Rafah, and Laerke said there was a “very, very short buffer of about one day of fuel.”
Israeli attacks and bombing throughout Rafah overnight killed at least 23 Palestinians, including at least six women and five children, according to hospital records.
Mohamed Abu Amra said his wife, two brothers, sister and niece were killed when a strike flattened their home as they slept. “We did nothing. … We don’t have Hamas,” he said.
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry condemned the seizure of the Rafah crossing, calling it “a dangerous escalation.”
It has previously warned that any occupation of Rafah — which is supposed to be part of a demilitarized border zone — or an attack that forces Palestinians to flee into Egypt would threaten the 1979 peace treaty with Israel that’s been a linchpin for regional security.
Netanyahu has stated that capturing Rafah, which Israel sees as the main place where Hamas has control in Gaza, is very important in order to defeat Hamas after their attack on southern Israel in October, which started the war. Around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and about 250 hostages were taken by Hamas and other fighters.
The United States, Egypt, and Qatar have been working for months to make a deal for a cease-fire and to free about 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others still held by Hamas. Hamas says they will not release them unless Israel stops the war and leaves Gaza.
Netanyahu and other top officials have said publicly that they do not agree with these demands, and they plan to start the attack after the hostages are released and continue until Hamas is destroyed. Right now, the hostages are Hamas' best way to make deals and could be used to protect their leaders.
An Egyptian official and a Western diplomat said the version of a plan that Hamas agreed to had only small changes from a version that the U.S. had suggested earlier and that Israel had okayed. The changes were made with help from the CIA chief, who liked the plan before sending it to Hamas, but they did not want to share their names.
According to a document released by Hamas, the plan says that hostages will be released in stages as Israeli troops slowly leave Gaza, and it will end with a "sustainable calm," which means a lasting stop to fighting and military actions.
