Israel takes control of Rafah crossing, truce talks to resume in Cairo
Semafor Signals
Insights from The Times of Israel, The Guardian, CNN
The News
The Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday they now have operational control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing, a border checkpoint between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
The announcement comes a day after Hamas said it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal, a deal that Israeli officials said wasn’t acceptable. The terms of the truce, including what it would mean for Israeli hostages, remain unclear.
Israel said it will send a negotiating delegation to Cairo to discuss the proposal further, while still moving forward with its military operation in Rafah. Israel has threatened to invade Rafah for weeks, despite international outcry over the safety of the roughly one million Palestinian civilians sheltering there, many of whom were displaced by Israeli assaults to the north.
SIGNALS
Residents told to flee to barren coastal town
Sources: CNN, +972 Magazine
East Rafah residents were ordered to evacuate to Al-Mawasi, a coastal town near the city of Khan Younis, where Israel said an “expanded humanitarian area” had been created. But the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Al-Mawasi is inhabitable; it was largely empty before the war, and since then displaced Palestinians arriving there “did not find any shelter or infrastructure,” the left-leaning +972 Magazine wrote in January. A CNN reporter in Rafah said people appeared “terrified and in a state of panic,” and videos show Gazans frantically packing up cars, trucks, and even donkey-drawn carts in a bid to escape the coming assault. One Palestinian man said he didn’t get an evacuation order, but “I’m leaving before others do. Nothing is left.”
International condemnation grows as attack looms
Sources: The Guardian, Politico, Axios, Haaretz
The evacuation order prompted renewed international rebuke of Israel. France warned that Israel would commit a war crime if it forcibly displaced Palestinians from Rafah; EU diplomat Josep Borrell called it “unacceptable.” And Egypt — which is worried about a flood of refugees trying to enter the country, and had reportedly threatened to abandon its peace deal with Israel — issued another warning to deter an invasion. US President Joe Biden spoke with Netayahu early on Monday about the ongoing ceasefire talks in Qatar. Analysts said Washington was searching for leverage: Axios reported the White House suspended an arms shipment to Israel last week, while a Haaretz columnist speculated that International Criminal Court warrants against Israel’s leadership may be a chance for the US to shift its position.
