Israel launches fresh Gaza strikes

RAFAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP)

— Israel struck targets in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after seizing the main border crossing with Egypt, where negotiators were working to make good on their “last chance” to cement a ceasefire deal.

After weeks of vowing to launch a ground incursion into the border city of Rafah despite international objections, Israeli tanks moved in Tuesday, capturing the crossing that has served as the main conduit for aid into the besieged Palestinian territory.

The White House condemned the interruption to humanitarian deliveries, with a senior United States (US) official later revealing Washington had paused a shipment of bombs last week after Israel failed to address US concerns over its Rafah plans.

One strike on an apartment in devastated Gaza City killed seven members of the same family and wounded several other people early Wednesday, the Al-Ahli hospital said.

Israel’s Rafah operation began hours after Hamas announced late Monday it had accepted a truce proposal — one Israel said was “far” from what it had previously agreed to.

Still, the announcement prompted cheering crowds to take to the streets in Gaza, though Rafah resident Abu Aoun al-Najjar said the “indescribable joy” was short-lived.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the operation as “a very important step” in denying Hamas “a passage that was essential for establishing its reign of terror.”

But United Nations humanitarian office spokesperson Jens Laerke said Israel had also denied his organization access to both Rafah and Kerem Shalom — another major aid crossing on the border with Israel.

Israel said it reopened the Kerem Shalom border crossing to humanitarian aid for Gaza Wednesday, four days after closing it in response to a rocket attack that killed four soldiers.

“Trucks from Egypt carrying humanitarian aid, including food, water, shelter equipment, medicine and medical equipment donated by the international community are already arriving at the crossing,” the army said in a joint statement with COGAT, the defense ministry body that oversees Palestinian civil affairs.

The push into the southern city, which is packed with displaced civilians, came as negotiators and mediators met in Cairo to try and hammer out a hostage release deal and truce in the seven-month war between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

A senior Hamas official, requesting anonymity, warned this would be Israel’s “last chance” to free the scores of hostages still in militants’ hands.