
As Gaza’s humanitarian crisis deepens, Israel and Egypt are embroiled in a dispute over the Rafah border crossing, holding each other accountable for the gate’s continuous closure.
Control of the Gaza side of the crossing has been seized by Israeli forces.
Israel Katz, the country’s foreign minister, stated on Tuesday that he had discussed “the need to persuade Egypt to reopen” the crossing with Germany and the UK.
However, Egypt claims that the obstacle to aid entering the region is Israel’s military actions.
Cairo claimed that Israel was attempting to assign guilt for impeding help.
Mr Katz said the Palestinian armed group Hamas, which attacked southern Israel on 7 October last year, sparking the current war, could no longer “control the Rafah crossing”, citing security concerns over which Israel “will not compromise”.
“The world places the responsibility for the humanitarian situation on Israel, but the key to preventing a humanitarian crisis in Gaza is now in the hands of our Egyptian friends,” Mr Katz wrote on X.
In response to the remarks, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry issued a statement emphasizing his country’s “categorical rejection of the policy of distorting facts and disavowing responsibility adopted by Israel”.
As a direct result of “indiscriminate Israeli atrocities committed against the Palestinians for more than seven month,” Mr. Shoukry claimed that Israel was “solely responsible for the humanitarian catastrophe currently endured by Palestinians in Gaza.”
He requested that the nation of Israel “assume its legal responsibility as the occupying power by allowing aid access through the land ports that are under its control” .
Egypt has been involved in mediating the ongoing ceasefire negotiations, but since Israel took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border on May 7, ties between Egypt and Israel have become tense.
Almost 450,000 Palestinians have fled from Rafah over the past week after the Israeli military moved into the area, the UN says. Israeli tanks are reportedly pushing deeper into Rafah city, which is to the north of the border crossing.
The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, expressed his shock at the “escalation of military activity in and around Rafah by the Israeli Defense Forces” in a statement.
He went on to reiterate demands for a ceasefire and the opening of the Rafah crossing, saying that these events are making the already grave situation worse and further obstructing humanitarian access.
“At the same time, Hamas goes on firing rockets indiscriminately. Civilians must be respected and protected at all times, in Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza. For people in Gaza, nowhere is safe now.”
The Rafah crossing and the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and southern Gaza were closed, according to the UN and international humanitarian organizations, effectively cutting off the Gaza Strip from outside help.
Spokesman for the US State Department Matthew Miller stated last week that Israel had an obligation to maintain the Rafah crossing’s operation and accessibility.
A “full-blown famine” that was “moving its way south” was being reported in northern Gaza by UN food agency chief Cindy McCain in the beginning of May.
The Israeli military organization in charge of organizing humanitarian access in Gaza, Cogat, reported in its most current update that 64 aid trucks entered Gaza on Sunday, a considerable decrease from the daily total of vehicles that entered in April.
The UN expressed its hope on Sunday that a recently opened crossing from Israel to the northern part of Gaza would result in a steady supply of supplies reaching that part of the territory.
In the occupied West Bank, some Israeli protestors on Monday tore up grain bags and threw food packages over the road, obstructing assistance vehicles headed for Gaza.
Furthermore, Egypt announced on Sunday that it would step in to support South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), citing Israel’s increased military presence in Gaza and the harm it was causing to people.
In the complaint accusing Israel of committing acts of genocide, South Africa petitioned the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday to order Israel to leave Rafah as an additional emergency remedy.
Despite warnings from the US and other partners that a ground offensive could result in a large number of civilian casualties, Israel has stated that it will carry out its planned military actions in Rafah.
The Israeli military has ordered residents of Rafah to relocate to Khan Younis, which is mostly destroyed from an earlier Israeli military assault, and al-Mawasi, a small coastal enclave that Israel refers to as a “extended humanitarian zone.”
Following Hamas’s onslaught on southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in around 1,200 deaths and 252 hostages, Israeli authorities began a military campaign in Gaza.
Since then, the health ministry in Gaza, which is governed by Hamas, has reported over 34,900 deaths in the region. (BBC)
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