Israel aggravating humanitarian situation by closing Rafah crossing: Gaza authority

By Anadolu staff

ISTANBUL (AA) - Israel is seeking to aggravate the humanitarian situation in the war-torn Gaza Strip by closing the Rafah border crossing, a local authority in the Palestinian enclave said Tuesday.

"In continuation of the genocidal war of the Israeli occupation army against our Palestinian people across the Gaza Strip, the occupation decided to exacerbate the humanitarian reality [in Gaza]," the Gaza-based Government Media Office said in a statement.

The Israeli army stopped the entry of humanitarian aid by closing the Rafah and Karm Abu Salem crossings, it said.

In the past 12 hours, the statement added, the Israeli army has killed more than 35 Palestinians.

"The situation is not only catastrophic in Rafah, but extends to all the Gaza Strip areas that suffer a tragic situation of systematic starvation," the statement read.

The office called for "an immediate international intervention" to stop Israel's aggression.

The Israeli army early on Tuesday said that its forces have seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

The spokesman of the Palestinian border crossing authority confirmed earlier that the border was closed from the Palestinian side.

Video footage shared by Israeli media outlets, including the Times of Israel, showed an Israeli tank at the Rafah crossing.

Following the Palestinian Hamas group announcement of accepting a Qatari-Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza, Israel’s War Cabinet decided to push ahead with an operation in Rafah.

The Israeli army issued immediate evacuation orders early Monday for Palestinians in the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah and called on them to move to the town of al-Mawasi in southern Gaza.

Rafah is home to more than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians who have taken refuge from the war launched by Israel following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that killed nearly 1,200 people.

Since then, the Israeli onslaught has killed more than 34,780 Palestinians, mostly women and children, besides causing a humanitarian catastrophe.

Nearly seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians there.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar​​​​​​​