Posted on 05/07/2024 11:33:10 AM PDT by Red Badger
Israeli military vehicles operate on the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in the southern Gaza Strip, in a handout image released May 7, 2024, by the Israel Defense Forces. ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS
Jerusalem — An Israeli tank brigade took control Tuesday of the Gaza Strip side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, authorities said, as Israel moved forward with an offensive in the southern city even as cease-fire negotiations with Hamas remain on a knife's edge. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his country in a video address later Tuesday that he had ordered troops "to operate in Rafah" as his government rejected a cease-fire proposal backed by Hamas the previous afternoon.
The tanks moved in around the Rafah checkpoint after hours of whiplash in the Israel-Hamas war, with the militant group saying Monday that it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari mediated cease-fire proposal. Israel quickly insisted the deal didn't meet its core demands and rejected it, though officials said Israel would continue discussing the proposal.
The high-stakes diplomatic moves and military brinkmanship left a glimmer of hope alive — but only barely — for an accord that could bring at least a pause in the seven-month-old war that has devastated the Gaza Strip.
As for the proposal that brought brief hope of an imminent truce late on Monday, Netanyahu dismissed it in his video message as an attempt by Hamas "to torpedo the entry of our forces into Rafah," which he had repeatedly vowed to order.
The Israeli leader confirmed, however, that his government was still engaged in negotiations for a cease-fire, saying he'd instructed his team to "continue to stand firm on the conditions necessary for the release of our abductees, continue to stand firm on the essential requirements for guaranteeing Israel's security."
Israel takes "operational control" of Rafah crossing The Israeli 401st Brigade entered the Rafah crossing early Tuesday morning, the Israeli military said, taking "operational control" of the crucial crossing. Israel had already fully controlled all of Gaza's border crossings since it launched its war on Hamas seven months ago, but the tanks rolling in on Tuesday marked a significant increase in the Israeli military presence at the Rafah crossing.
Rafah is the primary route for aid entering the besieged enclave and the exit for those able to flee into Egypt.
Video released by the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday showed tanks flying Israeli flags positioned around the Rafah border gate, with no other activity visible around the border checkpoint.
The Israeli military claimed it seized the crossing after receiving intelligence it was "being used for terrorist purposes." The military didn't provide evidence to immediately support the assertion, though it alleged the area around the crossing had been used to launch a mortar attack that killed four Israeli troops and wounded others near the Kerem Shalom crossing.
Wael Abu Omar, a spokesman for the Palestinian Crossings Authority, acknowledged Israeli forces had seized the Rafah crossing and had closed the facility for the time being. He said strikes had targeted the area around the crossing since Monday.
The military also confirmed that ground troops and airstrikes had targeted suspected Hamas positions in Rafah on Monday. Palestinian health officials in the Hamas-run enclave said 20 people were killed and several others wounded in strikes that hit at least four houses.
Prayers up for Israel.
If the Hamas side offered hostages that may or may not all be alive, how did they handle the dead ones? Several days or weeks or months dead. Gruesome.
Israel has got it ALL goin’ on! :)
The last BASTION of FREEDOM and SANITY in a land of inbred goat-humpers.
I stand with Bibi. Git ‘er DONE!
“I see beautiful homes & condos with seafront docks, in Israel’s future.”
There’s hope that American Patriots will have a new place to call ‘Home’ once the Socialist Democrats are through destroying America. ;)
The fact is, NONE of those countries want Palestinians, and for good reasons.
Even Iran doesn’t want them. The only thing Palestinians are useful for to other Arab countries is their role as a cat’s paw to antagonize the West.
Unconditional surrender. Then we will have a cease fire.
It was good enough for the United States it is good enough for Israel.
Hamas terrorist to leader: شكراً Tanks.
Leader: أهلا وسهلا You’re welcome.
TYT are worried that now that Israel has control of the Gaza/Rafah border with Egypt, that Israel could force all the Gazans into the Sinai (minus Hamas, all of which will be destroyed).
Well that would be naturally where the Gazans need to go.
The Gazans do not provide anything for themselves. They exist, and have existed wholly on aid from the US, the UN, and others.
So let the Gazans exist on the aid from the US, the UN, and others ... in the Sinai, safely away from Israel.
(TYT is The Young Turks Progressive channel on YouTube)
Amen
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