Israel uses Rafah crossing to tighten Gaza siege: Egypt

MANAMA, Bahrain

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi accused Israel on Thursday of using the Rafah crossing to tighten the siege on the Gaza Strip.

“Israel is continuing to evade its responsibilities and evade efforts to achieve a cease-fire,” Sisi told the opening session of an annual Arab summit in Bahrain.

“Israel also pressed ahead with its rejected military operation in Rafah and attempted to use the Rafah crossing from the Palestinian side to tighten the (ongoing) siege on the Gaza Strip,” he added.

The Israeli army launched a ground offensive on May 6 in Rafah, home to around 1.5 million displaced Palestinians, with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) estimating that around 600,000 people have fled the city since the start of the Israeli attack.

Israel also seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, a vital route for humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip.

Egypt has denounced the Israeli onslaught on the city and the capture of the Rafah crossing as a “dangerous escalation.”

Israel continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in the enclave.

More than 35,200 Palestinians have since been killed, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and over 79,200 others since last October following a Hamas attack.

More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of “genocide” at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala