Egypt has warned it will not hesitate to respond militarily after Israeli forces took control of a buffer zone along its border with the Gaza Strip.
Daniel Hagari, Israel’s chief military spokesperson, said Israeli forces had gained “operational” control over the “Philadelphi Corridor”, using the Israeli military’s code name for the 14 km-long (nine-mile) corridor along the Gaza Strip’s only border with Egypt.
“The Philadelphi Corridor served as an oxygen line for Hamas, which it regularly used to smuggle weapons into the area of the Gaza Strip,” Mr Hagari said. Hamas is the armed Palestinian group that governs the blockaded territory.
Mr Hagari did not spell out what “operational” control referred to but an Israeli military official earlier said there were Israeli “boots on the ground” along parts of the corridor.
The border with Egypt along the southern edge was the Gaza Strip’s only land border that Israel had not controlled directly.
Relations between Israel and its key Arab ally Egypt are now fraying, according to the Wall Street Journal, with Egypt telling Israel it will not hesitate to respond militarily if it feels its security has been threatened.
Israel has claimed there are at least 20 tunnels in the Philadelphi corridor.
A high-level Egyptian source said in response: “Israel is using these allegations to justify continuing the operation on the Palestinian city of Rafah and prolonging the war for political purposes,” according to state-linked Al-Qahera News.
Egypt has denied the existence of the tunnel network linking Egypt’s Sinai and the Hamas-controlled strip.
Just days ago, Egyptian forces posted at the Gaza border opened fire on Israeli forces operating in Rafah in what is believed to have been a revenge attack for the humanitarian crisis unravelling in Gaza. In the resulting exchange of fire, an Egyptian soldier was killed.
The tensions pose a risk to Israel’s efforts to free its 125 remaining hostages held by Hamas, with Egypt a key mediator between Israel and Hamas along with Qatar and the US.
Both Israel and Egypt remain ideologically united on the goal of eliminating Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood but, amid global allegations that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza with 36,000 Palestinians reportedly killed since October 7, it is becoming harder for Egypt to side with its neighbouring country.
Israel has continued to move deeper into Rafah, in spite of an order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to end attacks on the area where half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people had previously taken refuge. The US claimed the operation had not crossed its ‘red lines’.
Mr Hagari said Hamas positioned rocket launchers in the Philadelphi Route to dissuade Israel from striking close to the Egyptian border as the conflict in the southernmost part of the strip continued.
Rafah offensive
Earlier on Wednesday, Israel sent tanks on raids into Rafah. They had moved into the heart of Rafah for the first time on Tuesday despite an order from the top United Nations court to immediately halt the assault on the city.
The ICJ, the UN World Court, said Israel had not explained how it would keep evacuees from Rafah safe and provide food, water and medicine. Its ruling also called on Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release hostages taken from Israel on Oct. 7.
Rafah residents said Israeli tanks had pushed into Tel al-Sultan in the west and Yibna, and near Shaboura in the centre, before retreating towards a buffer zone on the border with Egypt, rather than staying put as they have in other offensives.
“We received distress calls from residents in Tel al-Sultan where drones targeted displaced citizens as they moved from areas where they were staying toward the safe areas,” said Haitham al Hams, the deputy director of ambulance and emergency services in Rafah.
Palestinian health officials said 19 civilians had been killed in Israeli airstrikes and shelling across Gaza. Israel accuses Hamas militants of hiding among civilians, something Gaza’s ruling Islamist group denies.
Majed Abu Raman, the health minister, urged Washington to pressure Israel to open the Rafah crossing to aid, saying there was no indication that Israeli authorities would do so soon and that patients in besieged Gaza were dying for lack of treatment.
Fighting in Gaza will continue throughout 2024 at least, said Tzachi Hanegbi, Israel’s national security adviser, signalling Israel was not ready to end the war as Hamas has demanded as part of a deal to exchange its hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
“The fighting in Rafah is not a pointless war,” Mr Hanegbi said, reiterating that Israel aimed to end Hamas rule in Gaza and stop it and its allies attacking Israel.
Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, said Israel needed to craft a post-war plan for Gaza or risk lawlessness, chaos and a Hamas comeback in the enclave.
The US, Israel’s closest ally, reiterated its opposition to a major ground offensive in Rafah on Tuesday while saying it did not believe such an operation was under way.
More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s Gaza offensive, the enclave’s health ministry said.
Israel launched its war after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities on Oct 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Hostage release talks
There was no word on Wednesday on developments in the ceasefire and hostage release talks. Hamas has said talks are pointless unless Israel ends its offensive on Rafah.
The armed wing of Hamas, and that of allies Islamic Jihad, said they confronted invading forces in Rafah with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs. They said they blew up explosive devices that had been planted, resulting in numerous successful hits.
The Israeli military said three Israeli soldiers were killed and three badly wounded. Public broadcaster Kan radio said an explosive device had been set off in a Rafah building.
Palestinian health officials said several people were wounded by Israeli fire. They said stores of aid were set ablaze in eastern Rafah, where residents said Israeli bombardment had destroyed many homes in an area Israel has ordered to be evacuated.
Around a million Palestinians who had taken shelter in Rafah at the southern end of the Gaza Strip have now fled after Israeli orders to evacuate, UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees reported on Tuesday.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said it had evacuated its medical teams from its field hospital in the Al-Mawasi area, a designated civilian evacuation zone, because of continued bombardments.
PRCS said two of its staff were killed when an ambulance was struck while on a mission to rescue people in Rafah. In another Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City, medics said five other Palestinians were killed.
In the nearby city of Khan Younis, an Israeli air strike killed three people overnight, including Salama Baraka, a former senior Hamas police officer, medics and Hamas media said. Another killed four people, including two children, medics reported.
In northern Gaza, Israeli forces shelled Gaza City neighbourhoods and moved deeper into Jabalia, where residents said large residential districts were destroyed.
Malnutrition has become widespread in Gaza as aid deliveries have slowed to a trickle. The UN, which has warned of famine, said on Wednesday the amount of humanitarian aid entering the enclave has dropped by two-thirds since Israel began its assault on the Rafah region this month.
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