The Latest | Blasts, gunfire heard near Rafah crossing as it remains closed under Israeli control
Gaza’s vital Rafah crossing remained closed early Wednesday after an Israeli tank brigade seized it the day before
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Rafah has been a vital conduit for humanitarian aid since the start of the war and is the only place where people can enter and exit. Israel now controls all of Gaza’s border crossings for the first time since it withdrew troops and settlers from the territory nearly two decades ago.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 46 patients and wounded people who had been scheduled to leave for medical treatment have been left stranded.
U.N. agencies and aid groups have ramped up humanitarian assistance in recent weeks as Israel has lifted some restrictions and opened an additional crossing in the north under pressure from the United States, its closest ally. But aid workers say the closure of Rafah, which is the only gateway for the entry of fuel for trucks and generators, could have severe repercussions.
The U.N. says northern Gaza is already in a state of “full-blown famine.”
The war in Gaza has driven around 80% of the territory's population of 2.3 million from their homes and caused vast destruction to apartments, hospitals, mosques and schools across several cities. The death toll in Gaza has soared to more than 34,500 people, according to local health officials.
The war began Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250 others. Israel says militants still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.
Currently:
— US paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says.
— Israeli tanks have rolled into Rafah. What does this mean for the Palestinians sheltering there?
— Scenes from Israel and Gaza reflect dashed hopes as an imminent cease-fire seems unlikely.
— Israeli forces take control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
— The U.N. says there’s ‘full-blown famine’ in northern Gaza. What does that mean?
Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Here's the latest:
RAFAH CROSSING IN GAZA REMAINS CLOSED AND UNDER ISRAELI MILITARY CONTROL
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Gaza’s vital Rafah crossing remained closed early Wednesday after an Israeli tank brigade seized it the day before. Associated Press journalists heard sporadic explosions and gunfire in the area overnight, including two large blasts early Wednesday.
Rafah has been a vital conduit for humanitarian aid since the start of the war and is the only place where people can enter and exit. Israel now controls all of Gaza’s border crossings for the first time since it withdrew troops and settlers from the territory nearly two decades ago.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 46 patients and wounded people who had been scheduled to leave for medical treatment have been left stranded.
U.N. agencies and aid groups have ramped up humanitarian assistance in recent weeks as Israel has lifted some restrictions and opened an additional crossing in the north under pressure from the United States, its closest ally. But aid workers say the closure of Rafah, which is the only gateway for the entry of fuel for trucks and generators, could have severe repercussions.
The U.N. says northern Gaza is already in a state of “full-blown famine.”
The operation to capture the crossing appears to have been a limited incursion and not the start of the massive invasion of Rafah that Israel has promised. But Israel has said it will expand the operation if ongoing indirect talks with Hamas over a cease-fire and hostage release fail to make progress.
U.S. PAUSED BOMB SHIPMENT TO ISRAEL OVER RAFAH INVASION CONCERNS, OFFICIALS SAYS
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a senior administration official said Tuesday.
The shipment was supposed to consist of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, with the focus of U.S. concern being the larger explosives and how they could be used in a dense urban setting. More than 1 million civilians are sheltering in Rafah after evacuating other parts of Gaza amid Israel’s war on Hamas, which came after the militant group’s deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
President Joe Biden’s administration in April began reviewing future transfers of military assistance to Israel as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government appeared to move closer toward an invasion of Rafah, despite months of opposition from the White House.
The official said the decision to pause the shipment was made last week and no final decision had been made yet on whether to proceed with the shipment at a later date.
— By ZEKE MILLER and AAMER MADHANI in Washington
U.S. MILITARY HAS FINISHED BUILDING A TEMPORARY PIER TO DELIVER AID TO GAZA. PLANS TO MOVE IT INTO PLACE ON HOLD
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has finished construction of a temporary pier and causeway that will be used to deliver aid to Gaza through a maritime system, but plans to move it into place on the shore are on hold due to weather and other logistics.
Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman, told reporters on Tuesday that U.S. military ships and the assembled pier are at Israel’s Ashdod port. High winds and sea swells are making it too dangerous for the U.S. military to install the pier at the Gaza beach.
Singh says the U.S. hopes to install the pier and causeway later this week, if the weather permits.
Meanwhile, humanitarian aid is being loaded onto a large container ship, the Sagamore, in Cyprus, for eventual delivery to Gaza, Singh said.
The U.S. hopes the pier can be used to bring more humanitarian aid into Gaza, where the U.N. says there is a full-blown famine in the north.
FUEL IS RUNNING OUT IN GAZA, AND U.N. WILL SOON LOSE WATER, FOOD, MEDICAL AND AID OPERATIONS
UNITED NATIONS — Critical diesel fuel to pump drinking water, maintain communications and deliver aid in Gaza will run out Wednesday and it’s estimated that food already in the south will be gone by the end of the week, a senior U.N. humanitarian said following Israel’s closure of the two key crossing points into the territory.
Andrea De Domenico, the head of the U.N.’s humanitarian office in the Palestinian territories, said Tuesday that Israel’s military operation and evacuation order in Rafah has resulted in “the forced displacement of tens of thousands of people.”
The area Israel told Palestinians to go is mainly sand dunes and has no latrines, water points, drainage, shelter or health facilities, De Domenico said in a virtual news conference from Jerusalem.
The Israelis are not on the ground providing services and are looking for humanitarian partners, he said. And it is impossible to improve conditions without the arrival of supplies and fuel to transport them to the new locations.
Without fuel and more flour, he said, the 16 bakeries supported by the U.N. World Food Program throughout Gaza will be forced to suspend operations. If supplemental nutrition supplies can’t be delivered, the treatment of more than 3,000 children suffering from acute malnutrition will be interrupted, he said, and three of the main remaining hospitals “will become inoperable.”
De Domenico said the U.N. normally uses 200,000 liters of diesel fuel a day in Gaza. As of Tuesday night, it had 30,000 liters left.
Without a fuel delivery on Wednesday, he said, the main water production facility in the north will be shut, “depriving the entire population of access to drinking water.” The same shutdown will happen in another day for the middle and south of Gaza, impacting 1.9 million people.
“The reality is that we are confronting a situation where we have probably one of the least resilient populations in Gaza because of the seven months of war in one of the most violent and lethal conflicts that we have seen in recent years,” he said.
De Domenico said there is a risk that no humanitarian assistance will be available in the coming days unless a way can be found to bring in and sustain aid deliveries.
The Israelis have assured the U.N. they are working on ways to bring in more fuel, hopefully on Wednesday, he said, and they said they hope to reopen the crossings rapidly, but didn’t give a timeline.