Gaza strip
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For the hundreds of thousands of Gazans who have flocked to the south of the enclave, the crossing point to Egypt represents hope for shelter or humanitarian aid. But despite international calls, it remained closed on Monday.
The 2.3 million inhabitants of Gaza have only one possible exit, and only one hope of humanitarian supplies: the Rafah border post, in the south of the enclave. It is the only one to be controlled by a foreign country, Egypt. But late Monday afternoon, despite reassuring statements the day before from American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, no Palestinian, even those with a foreign passport, had been able to cross the border. Likewise, none of the humanitarian aid trucks gathering in Egypt’s Sinai had been able to make the reverse journey. The Rafah post, bombed several times by Israel since the Hamas attacks on October 7, remained closed. Monday evening, a new strike hit the area.
As of Friday, Israeli authorities were urging Palestinians to leave northern Gaza, around 1.1 million people, to flee to the south. “We are at the start of large-scale military operations in Gaza City,” Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said on Monday. Civilians would not be safe if they stayed here.” On Monday, for the third consecutive day, the IDF