IDF takes over Palestinian side of Rafah crossing

Israel Defense Forces took over the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday morning, IDF said in a statement.

According to the statement, “intelligence indicated that the Rafah Crossing in eastern Rafah was being used for terrorist purposes”, and IDF troops managed to establish operational control of the Gazan side of the crossing. IDF says that mortars which were fired towards the Kerem Shalom crossing, killing 4 IDF soldiers on Sunday, had been fired from the area.

As reported earlier, Israeli army had told Palestinians to evacuate parts of Rafah ahead of an expected assault.

According to the IDF statement, during the operation, Israel Air Force jets “struck and eliminated Hamas terror targets in the Rafah area, including military structures, underground infrastructures and additional terrorist infrastructures from which Hamas operated in the Rafah area.”

During the overnight operation, “20 terrorists were eliminated,” according to IDF's estimates.

According to Al Jazeera, during the night Israeli warplanes pounded residential homes, killing at least 12 people.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says the group has accepted a Gaza ceasefire proposal put forward by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says the proposal is far from Israel’s demands but that he will send a delegation to Cairo for talks. Israel’s war cabinet also decided that its military would continue operations against Rafah.

The war began after Hamas stunned Israel with a cross-border raid on Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and 252 hostages taken, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 34,700 Palestinians have been killed and more than 78,000 have been wounded in Israel's assault, according to Gaza's health ministry.