Israeli troops seize Gaza side of Rafah crossing, hit Rafah with airstrikes
Israel’s military said Tuesday its forces had taken control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, a day after ordering tens of thousands of Palestinians to leave the area and launching repeated airstrikes. The Israeli operation comes after weeks of Israeli officials saying an offensive in Rafah was necessary to achieve their goal of defeating Hamas, while the United States, the United Nations and others warned that launching an offensive in an area crowded with Palestinian civilians could create a humanitarian disaster. The developments in Rafah also follow an announcement by Hamas that it had accepted a cease-fire proposal worked out with Egyptian and Qatari negotiators. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Monday the cease-fire proposal was “far from Israel’s essential demands,” but that Israel would send negotiators to Cairo to continue talks. During the past week, efforts to secure a cease-fire intensified, including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s traveling to the region and repeatedly telling Hamas that Israel had made compromises, and that Hamas should …