Arab residents reported that Israeli tanks and warplanes attacked Rafah on Thursday following US President Joe Biden’s pledge to deny weapons from Israel if its forces launched a significant invasion of the southwestern Gaza town.
Israeli militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed that their soldiers fired anti-tank missiles and cement at Israeli tanks that were massed on the eastern outskirts of Cairo as the peace talks raged about.
Residents and medical personnel in Rafah, the largest urban area in Gaza not yet under Israeli control, reported that a mosque’s strike in the northeast Brazil neighborhood left at least three people dead and others hurt.
The tower was found in the dust, two bodies were blanketed, and a wounded man was rescued, according to the scene’s video.
On the state’s eastern border, people said a plane opened fire, while uavs hovered above houses in many areas, some near to rooftops.
Israel claims that it needs to avenge Hamas extremists ‘ hideouts in Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Gazans have fled the city’s coastal enclave after receiving protection from bombardments elsewhere, for its own protection.
One of the displaced, Mohammad Abder- Rahman, said he feared the Jewish detonations presaged an conquest of the area.
The 42-year-old told Reuters via a messaging application that it “reminds me of what happened before Jewish vehicles stormed our residential sections in Gaza City.”” Big assault typically allows tanks to move toward areas they intend to invade,” she said.
According to two Egyptian security sources, ceasefire talks in the capital of Egypt made some progress, but no agreement was reached.
According to one of the sources, “we’ve been adjusting, adding, and deleting points over the past few hours,” according to one of the sources.
The Hamas delegation headed to Doha for consultations, blaming Israel for the lack of a consensus so far.
Biden issued his most vehement warning against a full-scale invasion, claiming that Israel has not developed a convincing plan to protect civilians in Rafah.
” I made it clear that if they go into Rafah,… I’m not supplying the weapons”, Biden told CNN in an interview on Wednesday.
80, 000 Palestinians flee again this week
According to the United Nations, Israeli tanks seized the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, cutting off a crucial aid route and forcing 80, 000 people to flee the city this week.
” The toll on these families is unbearable. Nowhere is safe, according to a post on X from the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees.
Rafah was not mentioned in an Israeli military statement regarding the Israeli operations in Gaza on Thursday morning.
After the Hamas attacks on October 7 that led to Israel’s offensive in Gaza, the United States, by far, is the largest supplier of weapons to Israel. In the seven-month-old offensive, Benjamin acknowledged that US bombs had caused the deaths of Palestinian civilians.
Due to the risk to civilians in Gaza, US officials claim that Washington halted the delivery of 1,800,000 and 1,700,500-pound bombs to Israel.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, claimed that the US’s decision to halt some of its weapons deliveries to Israel would significantly reduce the country’s ability to defeat Hamas ‘ power.
However, defense minister Yoav Gallant’s statement to Israel’s “enemies and friends” indicated that it would take any necessary steps to achieve its Gaza-based war goals, which underlined the extent of the conflict.
According to residents of Gaza, Israel continued to launch tank and aerial strikes and tanks advanced in the northern Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, forcing hundreds of families to flee. According to the Israeli military, the country’s security effort began with a number of intelligence-based aerial attacks on roughly 25 “terror targets.”
In central Gaza, Deir Al-Balah was heaving with people who had recently fled Rafah. According to Palestinian medical professionals, a drone fired a missile at a group of people in the area killing two people, including a woman.
Shuttle flights between Cairo and Jerusalem are provided by the CIA director.
In Cairo, delegations from Hamas, Israel, the US, Egypt and Qatar have been meeting since Tuesday. Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, and CIA Director William Burns met with him on Wednesday while flying between Cairo and Jerusalem.
Izzat El- Risheq, a member of Hamas ‘ political office in Qatar, said the Hamas delegation had left Cairo, having reaffirmed its approval the mediators ‘ ceasefire proposal. Israel’s hostages who were held captive in Gaza and a number of Palestinians who were imprisoned by Israel are included in the plan.
Israel earlier this week declared the three-phase truce proposal, which Hamas had approved, inadmissible, blaming terms that had been dilated. It delayed reacting to Hamas ‘ statement right away.
According to the most recent Israeli statistics, 128 people are still held hostage in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead as a result of Hamas militants ‘ attacks on Israel on October 7.
Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza has killed nearly 35, 000 people and wounded nearly 80, 000, most of them civilians, the health ministry in Hamas- run Gaza said.
The Gaza health ministry reported on Thursday that the closure of the Rafah crossing with Egypt has prevented the euthanasia of the wounded and sick and the entry of hospital supplies, food trucks, and fuel.
Due to the shelling, the only kidney dialysis facility in the Rafah neighborhood had stopped operating.
Ali Abu Khurma, a Jordanian surgeon volunteering at Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, said,” There used to be medical aid coming in, but now there is n’t.”
” The entire medical sector has collapsed”.
