Israeli airstrikes struck the only land exit from Gaza into Egypt today, shortly after a senior IDF spokesperson advised civilians in the Strip to flee through it.
Sinai for Human Rights, an Egyptian NGO, said that strikes through Tuesday had forced the border shut. Witnesses claim a building was damaged, Afp reported.
The Israeli military confirmed area strikes, claiming hits on ‘an underground tunnel for smuggling weapons and equipment’. No casualties were reported.
The strikes came as a senior IDF spokesperson today advised Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to flee through the crossing – before the military issued a correction.
The IDF’s international media spokesman, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, had said: ‘Rafah crossing is still open. Anyone who can get out, I would advise them to get out.’
The military later clarified: ‘In recent days, the IDF has been instructing the population inside of the Gaza Strip to distance themselves from designated areas.
‘We emphasise that there is no official call by Israel for residents of the Gaza Strip to exit into Egypt.’
Entire districts in Gaza were ‘razed‘ in airstrikes today as Israel continues its response to an ongoing incursion launched by Hamas on Saturday.
Israel announced yesterday it would put the region under ‘complete siege’, making the Rafah crossing into Egypt the sole route out of the Gaza Strip by land.
Hamas, in turn, launched a barrage of rockets at the port city of Ashkelon – hours after warning Israeli civilians had to leave before 5pm or die.
The movement of people and goods across the border is strictly controlled under a blockade of Gaza enforced by Egypt and Israel, in place since 2007.
The Rafah crossing is restricted to humanitarian cases and requires lengthy authorisations.
Hamas claims the strikes today have made the border impassable, according to The Times of Israel.
Witnesses have said Egyptian employees at the border post have now been evacuated while ‘dozens of Palestinian families’ who had tried to enter Gaza were turned back towards El Arish, Egypt, in light of recent airstrikes.
Egyptian officials have been in talks with Israel and the US, aiming to set up humanitarian corridors in Gaza to deliver aid, according to an Egyptian official.
There were negotiations with the Israelis to declare the area around the Rafah crossing a ‘no fire zone,’ the official said, speaking to AP on condition of anonymity.
Airstrikes into the Gaza Strip have killed and displaced hundreds, if not thousands, over the last four days.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had advised civilians in the Gaza Strip to ‘get out of there now’ in a televised address on Saturday, stressing the IDF would use all of its military might to avenge the victims of Hamas‘ attacks into Israel.