Gaza crossing to open as Israeli troops prepare assault

Humeyra Pamuk, Nandita Bose and Nidal al-Mughrabi | October 16, 2023

An Egyptian-controlled border crossing into Gaza is expected to reopen amid diplomatic efforts to get aid into the enclave.

The region has been under intense Israeli bombing since last week’s rampage by the militant group Hamas killed 1300 people.

Shocked by the assault on towns and villages, Israel is carrying out the most intense bombardment Gaza has seen, has imposed a strict blockade, and is preparing a ground invasion.

Hundreds of tonnes of aid from several countries have been held up in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula for days pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza and the evacuation of some foreign passport holders through the Rafah crossing.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday that the Rafah crossing will reopen.

“We’re putting in place with the United Nations, with Egypt, with Israel, with others, a mechanism by which to get the assistance in and to get it to people who need it,” Blinken said.

He did not give a specific time for the crossing to reopen. Veteran US diplomat David Satterfield, appointed on Sunday as a special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues, will arrive in Egypt on Monday to work out the details, Blinken said.

US President Joe Biden has urged Israel to follow the laws of war in its response to the Hamas attacks, and on Sunday said in a post on social media that “the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas’ appalling attacks and are suffering as a result of them”.

In a 60 Minutes interview aired on Sunday, Biden also said Israel needed to eliminate Hamas, but warned that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza.

Israel has urged exhausted Gazans to evacuate south, which hundreds of thousands have already done in the besieged enclave that is home to more than 2 million people. Hamas, which runs Gaza, has told people to ignore Israel’s message.

“Hamas has always said that there is no surrender, there is only freedom and justice,” the militant group said in a statement on Sunday.

Palestinians in Gaza said Israel’s bombing campaign overnight was the heaviest since it launched its retaliatory attacks last week. Bombardment was especially heavy in Gaza City, with airstrikes hitting the areas around two of the city’s main hospitals, they said.

Reserves of fuel at all hospitals across the Gaza Strip are expected to last only around 24 more hours, putting thousands of patients at risk, the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) said on Monday.

Authorities in Gaza said at least 2670 people had so far been killed by Israel’s retaliatory strikes, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded. Another 1000 people were missing and believed to be under rubble.

US government officials say they are mobilising to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, anticipating a brutal ground offensive.

Blinken said leaders in Arab states he visited across the region in recent days were determined to stop the war from spreading. Blinken is also seeking to secure the release of 155 hostages, including Americans, Israel says were taken by Hamas back into Gaza.

Iran, which backs both Hamas and Hezbollah, warned Israel of escalation if it kept attacking Palestinians, adding that it could not simply say an observer.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has convened Israel’s expanded emergency cabinet on Sunday, including former opposition lawmakers, in a show of unity. “Hamas thought we would be demolished. It is we who will demolish Hamas,” he said.

Israel’s military, which has massed tanks on Gaza’s border in preparation for a ground offensive, says it is targeting Hamas and its infrastructure in response.

Israeli aircraft on Sunday struck about 250 military targets, killing the Hamas southern district commander, the military said.

Israeli military chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi told soldiers near the Gaza border they would be entering Gaza to root out Hamas, targeting “every place, every commander, every operator”.