The armed wing of Hamas claimed responsibility this Sunday (5) for a rocket attack against Israeli forces near the Kerem Shalom border crossing, between Gaza and Israel. According to Israel’s public broadcaster, the attack injured several people.
Israeli military said about 10 rockets were fired from an area near the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt toward Kerem Shalom, one of the humanitarian aid channels to Gaza. Due to the attacks, the army reported that the passage is closed to trucks.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack and said the act demonstrated that Hamas was not interested in aid entering the territory. In the statement, the ministry stated that while the army “facilitated humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, terrorists fired rockets in the same area,” it said.
“Israel remains committed to providing vital aid, while Hamas remains committed to destroying lives,” the ministry added.
Following the attack, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister and far-right member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, urged Netanyahu to authorize a military strike on Rafah.
“We didn’t attack Gaza and we got October 7th,” Ben-Gvir said in online statement. “We didn’t attack Rafah and we got a precision strike, Netanyahu, go to Rafah now!”
It is estimated that around 1.4 million Palestinians are taking refuge in the city of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, close to the border with Egypt, where Israel’s prime minister has already promised to carry out a ground offensive against Hamas.
However, the Israeli government has faced increasing pressure not to carry out the operation as it could derail humanitarian efforts in Gaza.
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