The Israeli armed forces have launched a targeted counterterrorism operation in the eastern part of the Gazan city of Rafah, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday.
IDF troops have taken operational control of the Gazan side of the Rafah Border Crossing, the only crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. Both IDF ground troops and IAF fighter jets carried out strikes on Hamas targets in the Rafah area as part of the operation.
"Overnight (Monday), IDF ground troops began a precise counterterrorism operation based on IDF and ISA intelligence to eliminate Hamas terrorists and dismantle Hamas terrorist infrastructure within specific areas of eastern Rafah," the IDF wrote on Telegram.
Prior to starting the operation, the IDF had urged residents in the area of eastern Rafah to temporarily evacuate to the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi. The location in question has been expanded to accommodate more tents, field hospitals, tents, and stocked with additional supplies of water, food, and medical provisions.
All humanitarian aid shipments to Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah crossing have been suspended, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
Palestinians flee from the eastern side of the southern Gaza city of Rafah after the Israeli army orders them to evacuate ahead of a military operation, in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Monday, May 6, 2024.
© AP Photo / Ismael Abu Dayyah
Over a million Palestinian civilians have sought shelter in Rafah, with reports indicating that close to 100,000 people might be in the zone where the Israel Defense Forces urged an evacuation. Tev Aviv has been repeatedly warned that a ground operation would trigger a humanitarian catastrophe in Rafah.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had stated on Sunday that Israeli troops were gearing up for a ground offensive against the southern Gaza city of Rafah, after accusing Hamas of rejecting Israel's ceasefire proposals.
"We see signs that Hamas does not intend to carry out any plan. This makes it clear that in the near future, intensive actions will begin in Rafah and other areas in the Gaza Strip," Gallant was quoted as saying to Israeli troops by the Israel Hayom newspaper.
On Monday, the government’s press office announced that the Israeli war cabinet had unanimously decided to continue the operation in Rafah to pressure Hamas on the issue of release of hostages.
The operation in Rafah comes after Palestinian movement Hamas agreed to release 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners as part of the first stage of the ceasefire deal, according to a document obtained by Sputnik. On Saturday, Hamas's delegation had arrived in Cairo to negotiate through Egyptian mediators a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of the captives.
The chairman of the political office of Palestinian movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Abbas Kamel, the chief of Egypt’s intelligence, of acceptance of a proposal to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Hamas said on Monday. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office claimed the Hamas proposal was "far from Israel's essential demands", but it would send negotiators for talks "to exhaust the potential for arriving at an agreement".