Israel's capture of Rafah crossing shows intent to disrupt cease-fire efforts: Hamas

ISTANBUL

Israel’s capture of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing disrupts efforts to reach a cease-fire deal in the Gaza Strip, Hamas warned on Tuesday.

“The Israeli control of the Rafah crossing shows its intention to disrupt cease-fire and prisoner exchange efforts,” the Palestinian group said in a statement.

It termed the Israeli military control of the area as a “dangerous escalation against a civilian facility protected by international law."

Israel “seeks to exacerbate the humanitarian situation in Gaza by closing the border crossing and preventing the flow of relief aid to the besieged territory,” it added.

The Rafah border crossing is a vital route for humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, which has been under a crippling Israeli siege since last Oct. 7, leaving the territory’s population on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli army said early Tuesday that its 401st armored brigade seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip.

Army footage showed Israeli tanks rolling through the area and the Israeli flag raised on the Gaza side.

A spokesman of the Palestinian border crossing authority confirmed that the border terminal was closed from the Palestinian side.

The Israeli move came hours after Hamas said it had accepted a Gaza cease-fire proposal drawn by Qatar and Egypt.

Israel, however, said the truce offer accepted by Hamas did not meet its key demands and decided to push ahead with an operation in Rafah in order to apply what it said "military pressure on Hamas with the goal of making progress on freeing the hostages and the other war aims.”

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 Hamas attack, which killed about 1,200 people. Nearly 34,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and 78,100 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

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 in Gaza.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar