Israel says it has introduced a daily “tactical pause” of military activity along a route in southern Gaza to allow aid to be distributed, but said fighting in and around Rafah in southern Gaza will not cease. Loop.
The pauses began on Saturday and will take place daily from 8am to 7pm local time until further notice to allow trucks to move from the Kerem Shalom crossing, the main entry point for incoming aid to the south of Gaza, to the Salah al-Din river. road and to the north, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Shortly after announcing the measure, the Israeli military said that “fighting in Rafah continues” and added that “there is no change in the entry of goods into the Strip.”
An aid bottleneck has built up in Kerem Shalom amid Israeli airstrikes and fighting in much of southern Gaza.
Terrible humanitarian crisis: Human rights groups have described the “indescribable” living conditions of Palestinians in Gaza after eight months of Israeli bombing. Israel's military campaign has pulverized neighborhoods, damaged health infrastructure and depleted supplies of food, water and fuel.
More than 50,000 children in Gaza now need treatment for acute malnutrition, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said in a post on X on Saturday.
Last month, Israel pressed ahead with its ground operation in central Rafah, saying Hamas fighters are embedded in civilian areas of the enclave's southernmost city.
The operation has caused hundreds of thousands of already displaced people to leave the area. Gazans say they have been bombed even as they were evacuated to areas that were supposed to be safe, and that they have nowhere left to go. Internally displaced Palestinians are estimated to be overcrowded in an area of 69 square kilometers (27 square miles).
The Israeli leadership criticizes the measure: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unhappy when he first heard about the plan, according to an Israeli official.
Netanyahu then contacted his military secretary and said this was unacceptable, until he was sure the fighting in Rafah would continue. He raises the question of where the “tactical pause” order originated, but it is expected to continue.
Israeli Security Minister Ben Gvir, a prominent right-wing member of the country's cabinet, condemned the pause. “Whoever decided to take a 'tactical pause' with the goal of a humanitarian transition, especially at a time when the best of our soldiers are falling in battle, is an evil and a fool who should not continue in his position,” he claimed. saying.
Fights and deadly strikes: Fierce fighting and airstrikes have rocked Rafah as the Israeli effort to destroy Hamas in Gaza continues. A civil defense official in the enclave told CNN that heavy fighting was taking place in the western neighborhoods of Rafah on Sunday.
Ahmed Radwan, media officer for Rafah Civil Defense, said the organization had received requests to collect bodies and wounded, but that teams were finding it difficult to access many areas due to Israeli military operations.
On Saturday, eight IDF soldiers were killed near the city, one of the deadliest incidents of the war for Israeli troops.
