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<h1 class="gmail-single_title">Occupation of Rafah Crossing … Israeli arrogance and further strangulation of Gaza</h1>
<p class="gmail-single_date">Wednesday 8-May-2024 -<font size="1"> <a href="https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/05/08/318647/">https://english.palinfo.com/reports/2024/05/08/318647/</a></font></p>
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<p>RAFAH, (PIC)</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Humanitarian disasters</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Humanitarian response</strong></p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Genocidal war</strong></p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Political pressure</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>He explained that the areas currently controlled by the occupation
forces are open and not suitable for defense by the resistance.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Israeli intentions</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.”</p>
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