[News] Occupation of Rafah Crossing … Israeli arrogance and further strangulation of Gaza

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Occupation of Rafah Crossing … Israeli arrogance and further strangulation
of Gaza

Wednesday 8-May-2024 -
https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/05/08/318647/
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/05/08/318647/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/05/08/318647/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/05/08/318647/#>
<https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/05/08/318647/#>
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RAFAH, (PIC)

Recreating a scene from the occupation, Israeli tanks entered Rafah
Crossing, reaching the Egyptian gate and hoisting the Israeli flag within
it. Israel seemingly aimed to project a victorious image by occupying a
civilian facility that serves as a lifeline for over 2.3 million people in
the Gaza Strip.

>From a vulnerable border area, Israeli tanks advanced to occupy Rafah
Crossing, the sole gateway for Gaza to the outside world, shutting it down
and rendering it non-operational. The area has been turned into a virtual
prison, divided into at least two sections where residents live in tents
amidst rubble, enduring constant shelling.

With the occupation of Rafah Crossing, the isolation of the Gaza Strip from
the outside world is complete, depriving patients and the wounded of access
to medical treatment and preventing the flow of humanitarian aid trucks.
This exacerbates the already deteriorating humanitarian situation due to
the ongoing conflict over the past seven months.

Israeli military vehicles staged a demonstration early Tuesday morning at
Rafah Crossing, located southeast of Rafah City near the border with Egypt,
following Israeli warnings to residents of eastern neighborhoods to
evacuate their homes, indicating an imminent ground military operation.

The Crossings and Borders Authority reported that Israel has closed the
crossing for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, with Israeli vehicles
on the Palestinian side of the crossing. Meanwhile, the entry of aid trucks
remains blocked for the fourth consecutive day, whether through Rafah
Crossing or Kerem Shalom Crossing.

*Humanitarian disasters*

Local and international organizations view the occupation of Rafah Crossing
and the closure of Kerem Shalom Crossing, both located south of Rafah City,
as exacerbating the humanitarian and health crises that have plagued the
small coastal enclave since the outbreak of the Israeli war following the
October 7th attack last year.

Official estimates suggest that 11,000 war casualties and 10,000 cancer
patients are in desperate need of travel for life-saving treatment abroad,
after Israeli forces deliberately destroyed hospitals, including the only
Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital specializing in cancer treatment.

*Humanitarian response*

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)
stated on its WhatsApp account that “the continued interruption of aid and
fuel supplies through Rafah Crossing will halt humanitarian response
throughout the Gaza Strip.”

The UN agency warned that “the famine disaster faced by people, especially
in northern Gaza, will worsen if supplies are stopped,” referring to
hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza City and northern Gaza,
isolated by Israel from the southern half.

The occupation forces reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing following the
temporary ceasefire in November of last year. According to the Government
Media Office (GMO), 190 trucks loaded with commercial goods and various
humanitarian aids enter daily through it, alongside a smaller number of
trucks via the Rafah crossing, including fuel and cooking gas trucks.

Before the outbreak of the war, more than 500 trucks loaded with various
types of goods and humanitarian needs used to enter daily through Kerem
Shalom, in addition to fuel.

*Genocidal war*

The head of the GMO in Gaza, Ismail al-Thawabta, said that the occupation’s
decision to stop aid and close the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings comes
in the context of “continuing the war of genocide.” He added that “this
would exacerbate the humanitarian situation in a twofold and catastrophic
manner.”

According to al-Thawabta, the situation in eastern Rafah indicates a real
humanitarian catastrophe, not only for this city alone but also extending
to all the governorates of the Gaza Strip, which have been experiencing a
tragic state of systematic starvation and shortages in supplies and aid for
the past 7 consecutive months. Then comes the occupation’s decision to stop
aid and close the crossings, which worsens the humanitarian situation in a
catastrophic manner.

*Political pressure*

Karim al-Falahi confirmed that the occupation has effectively taken control
of Rafah Crossing from the Palestinian side and violated the 1979 agreement
and the 2005 protocol by deploying military units in the area.

In a military analysis for Al Jazeera, he stated that the incursion east of
Rafah is limited, and the distance between the Gaza Strip and Rafah
Crossing does not exceed 3 kilometers.

He explained that the areas currently controlled by the occupation forces
are open and not suitable for defense by the resistance.

He said that the operation is limited in an attempt to reach an agreement
and to exert more political pressure on the resistance rather than military
pressure.

*Israeli intentions*

Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip stated that the occupation and
closure of Rafah Crossing and Kerem Shalom Commercial Crossing, along with
military operations in Rafah, reveal the intentions of the occupation to
commit massacres and humanitarian disasters.

The factions emphasized in a statement on Tuesday that the occupation began
to cut food, humanitarian, and medical supply lines and prohibit the
movement of passengers, wounded, and citizens, preventing the entry of food
trucks that, if allowed, would only meet 5% of the daily needs.

They warned that the ground aggression on Rafah and the occupation and
destruction of Rafah Crossing, along with the closure of Kerem Shalom
Crossing, the only outlet for Gaza, means a humanitarian catastrophe
targeting 2.3 million Palestinian citizens in Gaza.

They pointed out that the closure of remaining hospitals and health centers
means “the actual killing of thousands of wounded, cancer patients, women,
children, and others.” They said, “This is a clear aggression, with
malicious intent, to thwart the efforts of mediators and challenge
international and regional will, as well as popular will, especially after
the resistance leadership, along with our people’s factions and forces,
agreed to a proposal to stop the aggression and exchange prisoners.”
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