The situation in the southern Gaza Strip is becoming increasingly critical. According to the UN, aid supplies are no longer arriving through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings. One of three clinics in Rafah has already had to close due to the attacks and a lack of fuel.
Israeli attacks in Rafah have forced one of the city’s three hospitals to close, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in Geneva that they are very concerned about the situation. According to him, 30,000 to 40,000 residents and displaced people have already fled Rafah out of fear of attacks. But 1.4 million people are still on site.
Tedros criticized the fact that the Rafah border crossing, through which much of the humanitarian aid was brought into the area, has been closed since Tuesday. Since then, gasoline has no longer been able to be supplied to operate generators in clinics. Without additional gasoline, operations would only last for three days. However, the WHO does not intend to withdraw from Rafah.
On Platform X, Tedros criticized the military operation in the city. This “further limits our ability to reach thousands of people who live in catastrophic conditions,” he wrote. “This must stop now.”
Maternity clinic stops admitting patients
As the dpa news agency reports, the most important maternity clinic in Rafah stopped accepting new patients. The administration of the Emirati hospital confirmed this by telephone. The reasons given were the constant attacks by the Israeli army and the fuel shortage.
Israel sent tanks to Rafah on Tuesday and took control of the border crossing with Egypt on the Palestinian side. On Wednesday, the Israeli army continued its attacks on Rafah, while a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip was negotiated in the Egyptian capital Cairo in the presence of representatives of the Israeli side and Hamas.
Unclear situation in Kerem Shalom
The situation at the important Kerem Shalom border crossing is also unclear. Despite Israel’s announcement to open the crossing, no aid has been delivered to the Gaza Strip, according to the United Nations. This was said by spokesman Stéphane Dujarric in New York. He did not respond in detail to questions about what was holding up the deliveries. There was also no help coming into the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing.
Israel closed the Kerem Shalom crossing for humanitarian transport on Sunday after a rocket attack by the terrorist organization Hamas. Four Israeli soldiers were killed in the attack. Israel only announced on Wednesday that the border crossing had been reopened for the delivery of aid supplies.
The Israeli authority Cogat, which is responsible for Palestinian affairs, published a video in which trucks with relief supplies could be seen driving into the border area and the relief supplies being unloaded there.
Normally, Palestinian drivers have to pick up the goods from the other side of the border crossing and drive them to distribution points in the Gaza Strip. This may not have happened because many Palestinians fled the area following Israel’s military advance.
The military wing of Hamas also shelled the border crossing on Wednesday. The Qassam Brigades said it had fired rockets at Israeli troops in Kerem Shalom. According to the Israeli army, there was a rocket alarm in the area.
Talks between Israel and USA
Meanwhile, the AFP news agency, citing Israeli government circles, reports that Israel and the USA have discussed pausing the Israeli attacks on the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of the US secret service CIA, Bill Burns, discussed the “possibility” of a pause in fighting in Rafah in exchange for the release of hostages by the militant Islamist Hamas in Jerusalem, a government official said.
The USA is Israel’s most important supporter, but has recently repeatedly expressed criticism of Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip. Because of the Israeli offensive in Rafah, Washington even suspended a planned arms shipment to Israel.
The war in the Gaza Strip was triggered by the radical Islamic Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th. According to Israeli information, around 1,170 people were killed and around 250 others were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.