Rafah attack despite Hamas nod for truce sparks concern

After Hamas accepted cease-fire proposals brokered by Egypt and Qatar, Israel's latest attack on Rafah has again dampened hopes of a long-awaited truce and raised concerns of even more suffering in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Army Radio announced its forces had taken control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday morning and army footage showed tanks rolling through the complex and the Israeli flag raised on the Gaza side, Reuters reported.

This could cripple the already narrow flow and slow pace of essential humanitarian aid reaching Gaza, as the Rafah border crossing is shared between Egypt and Gaza, experts warned.

International humanitarian organizations have for weeks warned that famine was imminent. World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain had said she believes "full-blown famine" has already happened in northern Gaza.

Palestinian news agency WAFA reported of the Israeli army carpet-bombing areas east of Rafah amid fears of a looming ground invasion of the densely populated region.

Despite international appeals for Israel to hold off an assault on Rafah, Israeli tanks and planes attacked several areas and houses there overnight. The Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli strikes across the enclave had killed 54 Palestinians and wounded 96 others in the past 24 hours.

Dennis Francis, president of the United Nations General Assembly, said on social media platform X that Israel's attack on Rafah was "inconsiderate" and "nothing can justify it". It meant "more humanitarian catastrophe", he said, noting that this is a "critical moment to take decisive steps toward a permanent cease-fire".

On Monday, media reported that Ismail Haniyeh, the supreme leader of Hamas, had confirmed the group's acceptance of what it said were Israel's cease-fire terms.

However, a statement released by the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said, "While the Hamas proposal is far from meeting Israel's core demands, Israel will dispatch a ranking delegation to Egypt in an effort to maximize the possibility of reaching an agreement on terms acceptable to Israel."

The statement added that Israel's war cabinet unanimously decided to continue its operation in Rafah, to apply military pressure on Hamas to advance the release of hostages and achieve the other objectives of the war.

Haydar Oruc, a former researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies in Turkiye, told China Daily that when Hamas accepted the plan presented by Egypt and Qatar, "all eyes turned to Israel".

"But Israel, as expected, rejected the cease-fire agreement accepted by Hamas, showing once again that it is the party that wants the war to continue," Oruc said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed Egyptian-Qatari efforts to reach a truce in Gaza, as he called on the international community to also exert pressure on Israel to abide by this agreement, WAFA reported.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned that civilian deaths, suffering and destruction "were set to increase beyond already unbearable levels "following Israel's orders to Palestinians to evacuate parts of Rafah.

He called the latest development "inhumane" and "runs contrary to the basic principles of international humanitarian and human rights laws", which have the effective protection of civilians as their overriding concern.

Agencies contributed to this story.