The press office of the Hamas government in Gaza says that “over 30 people have died following the Israeli bombing of a refugee camp northwest of Rafah”. Al Jazeera reports it.
Hamas, after 4 months, it returned to launch a barrage of rockets on Tel Aviv and central Israel. The Israeli army counted eight, claimed by the Qassam Brigades – military wing of the Islamic faction – pulled from the Rafah area, the southernmost city of Gaza, where the IDF has been engaged for weeks in a military operation “aimed” at liquidating the last Hamas battalions.
Reopening of the Rafah crossing
The new development came on the same day Egypt reopened the border crossing Rafah from which, after a 20-day stoppage, the first trucks entered humanitarian aid headed to the Israeli one Kerem Shalom and then pass, once inspected by Israel, to the Strip. Now all eyes are on the Cairo where from Tuesday – according to Egyptian sources who reported it to CNN – negotiations could resume, mediated by Egypt, USA and Qatarfor a possible truce and the release of over 120 Israeli hostages still held captive in Gaza.
Attack from Rafah to Tel Aviv
The attack from Rafah on Tel Aviv and the central part of the country – the largest in a long time, considered by analysts to be an open challenge by the Qassam Brigades – arrived in the early afternoon, setting off the alarm sirens which had not been heard in the area for some time. Kfar Saba, Raanana, Herzilya were also the most affected by the fallout of the debris from the rockets hit by the interceptions carried out byIron Dome. TO Tel Aviv loud explosions were heard in the sky due to the intervention of the Israeli defense system. Of the 8 rockets, according to an IDF spokesperson, 3 were intercepted in the air while the others passed by. TO Herzilya a building – and the images were seen on social media – was hit by fragments: two people suffered minor injuries while running into shelters.
Claim of the Qassam Brigades
The Qassam Brigades in their claim they said they had “bombed Tel Aviv in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians”. The War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz – who called for an investigation into October 7 and the conduct of the war – denounced that “the shooting from Rafah shows that the IDF must act wherever Hamas is”.
Resumption of talks and downsizing of operations
A source from the Jewish State, meanwhile, told the media that the resumption of talks and the developments in The Hague are leading the army to review the operation in the area, scaling it down: “It will continue to operate, but in a more contained way” . The reopening of the border crossing Rafah – which occurred after a recent conversation between the president Joe Biden and the Egyptian one to Sisi – allowed, according to Egyptian media, the entry of a total of “200 trucks” which moved from the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing. The head of the Egyptian Red Crescent in North Sinai, Khaled Zayedsaid the trucks are moving in coordination between Egypt, Israel, Unrwa (the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees) and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Food aid and fuel in the Gaza Strip
On board – it was specified – several tons of food aid but four tankers also passed fuel in the Gaza Strip. In anticipation of next Tuesday's meeting in Cairo, the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the War Cabinet to discuss the position, even if already in recent days, under the pressure of the demonstrations taking place in the country for the release of the hostages, the mandate to negotiate to the head of the Mossad David Barnea it should be much larger than that of the last rounds of negotiations.
Hamas position
Hamas, however, he made it known that at the moment he has not yet received anything from the mediators and reiterated that the position of the Islamic faction does not change. «What is necessary – he warned her – is to stop the war in the entire Gaza Strip, not just in Rafah. This is the basis and the starting point.” Meanwhile, the conflict with the Hezbollahwith rockets and raids, in the north on the border with the Lebanon while in the Strip the Hamas Ministry of Health has updated it to almost 36 thousand the victims since the beginning of the conflict.