This week, Israel launched a military operation to effectively take control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing in the Gaza Strip, raising fears that the people of Gaza may lose their "last safe city."
At the same time, the months-long ceasefire negotiations have entered their final and most critical moments. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Israeli army may launch a series of ground operations in Rafah to exert final military pressure on Hamas, which also makes the long-awaited ceasefire negotiations full of uncertainties.
Israel's "Father of the Nation" Ben Gurion famously said, "Without Egypt, Israel would not face war; There will be no peace in Israel without Syria. ”
Punched Egypt and kicked Syria, establishing the image of the "little bully of the Middle East".
Now, in the face of a projectile land, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also released cruel words: "No force in the world can stop us." ”
Israeli forces occupy the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing
On 10 May, while the air strikes continued, Israeli tanks blocked the main roads in the eastern and western sectors of Rafah and surrounded the eastern part of Rafah. Israeli ground forces said that several underground tunnels had been discovered in the eastern region and that several armed men had been killed.
For a week, Israeli military operations in Rafah have continued to escalate.
In the early morning of 7 May, heavy gunfire and explosions were heard on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing in the Gaza Strip. Footage released by the Associated Press shows Israeli tanks marching into Rafah.
Israeli officials said tanks and other ground troops had entered the eastern suburbs of Rafah as part of Israel's "phase one military operation" in Rafah.
According to the IDF, the Israeli 401st Armoured Brigade entered the Rafah crossing in the early hours of 7 May and had "de facto control" of the Palestinian side of the crossing.
Egyptian officials said that the Israeli army had given Cairo a short notice before launching the military operation and had ignored the angry opposition of the Egyptian side.
On the same day, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicated that Israel had denied United Nations personnel and aid access to the Rafah crossing after it had occupied the crossing.
UN Secretary-General's Spokesperson Dijarric: Between 1 and 5 May, an average of 48 trucks and more than 160,000 litres of fuel entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing every day.
And now, on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, trucks loaded with humanitarian aid have been stopped. One driver said that if the refrigeration equipment fails, all the food will go bad.
Gambril, Gulf & Iran News Director, AP: Rafah is an important port of entry for a lot of aid into Gaza.
Since the outbreak of a new round of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict last October, Israel has closed all crossings in the Gaza Strip, except Rafah. Rafah became the only crossing point outside of Israeli control. The Israeli military claims that information was received that the crossing could be "used for terrorist activities."
In the Wall Street Journal's view, for Israel, the occupation of the Rafah crossing is both strategic and symbolic, showing that Israel can operate freely in the area of its choice.
On 5 May, Israel closed the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza for humanitarian aid trucks.
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Spokesperson Lake: This means that both "arteries" for humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip have been severed.
Humanitarian aid has been cut off and lives in Gaza have been threatened
In the eyes of analysts, Israel is cutting off supply lines and using the fate of the people of Gaza as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Hamas.
Senior Hamas official Hamdan: The [Israeli] occupying forces attacked and occupied the Rafah crossing with the aim of exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza by closing the crossing and preventing aid from being provided to the besieged people.
Gaza journalist Satari: [Israel] weaponizes people's right to food, people's right to medical care and health care.
Rama Hawley: Today, my leg hurts. The fracture was broken, and the arm was injured. There's metal in it, and it hurts.
Rama Hawley, 8, is being treated at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Shuhada, central Gaza.
In April this year, Hawley was seriously injured in an Israeli air strike. Due to the limited medical conditions in Gaza, she had to travel abroad through the Rafah crossing to undergo major surgery, but the Israeli blockade shattered her dreams of recovery.
Rama Hawley: I was supposed to have surgery, but I couldn't travel because the border crossing was closed. I'm sad because I didn't leave today.
On 8 May, WHO warned that hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip would only have enough fuel to last for three days at most, meaning that medical services would soon be forced to stop.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: Najjar Hospital, one of the three main hospitals in Rafah, has had to close and patients have been transferred elsewhere.
Ard Zohair, 73, a patient with kidney failure, needs to go to Najjar Hospital three days a week for kidney dialysis to stay alive.
Ade Zhohair: I'm a resident of Rafah, I can't leave, but dialysis is no longer available at Najjar hospital.
After the closure of Najjar Hospital, Djohail ventured to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. It is also the last hospital in the entire Gaza Strip to still have dialysis machines in operation.
Blood flows through the tubing from her hand into the dialysis machine. Today, Zohhair will live.
Head of the Nephrology Department at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, Khattab: We have 19 dialysis machines, and these machines almost never stop working.
The 19 dialysis machines operate almost around the clock, requiring about 200 treatments per day, leaving little time for necessary sterilization during patient rotations. They are the last hope for some 1,000 people with kidney failure in the Gaza Strip, but no one knows how long the devices will last under overload.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stressed that humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip would be forced to terminate if fuel supplies were lost and generators, trucks and communications equipment could not function properly.
Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Egeland: At this moment, the lifeline is under great threat. Unless we achieve a ceasefire and get fuel, there will be a large number of civilian deaths.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry strongly condemned Israel's occupation of the Rafah crossing as a "dangerous escalation". Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Kanaani said in a statement that the Israeli military's move has made the international community's efforts to stop the war come to naught.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian: China is gravely concerned about Israel's plans to launch a ground military operation against Rafah, and strongly calls on Israel to heed the overwhelming call of the international community, stop attacking Rafah, and make every effort to avoid a more serious humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.
On 8 May, under international pressure, Israel announced the reopening of the Kerem Shalom crossing. However, on that day, a group of people waving Israeli flags again tried to prevent humanitarian aid from entering Gaza.
Satellite imagery released by Al Jazeera shows that the Amitai military base near the Keremshalom crossing has recently amassed a large amount of military equipment.
UN Secretary-General's Spokesperson Dijarric: So far, no supplies have entered the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom or Rafah crossings for us to use in humanitarian operations.
Ceasefire talks broke down and Israeli forces attacked Rafah again
The New York Times bluntly said that in just a few days, hopes for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip have been emerging, dashing, and reappearing, and this back-and-forth and chaos was especially evident on May 6.
Gulf & Iran News Director at the Associated Press Gambryl: After an extremely chaotic few hours, Hamas was the first to come out and say that the ceasefire would be phased in over a few weeks.
On the evening of 6 May, Hamas announced that it had agreed to the brokers' proposal for a three-phase ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Hearing the news, the Palestinians in Rafah were filled with anticipation.
Palestinian Mashar: We hope for a cease-fire, a cease-fire, so that we can return home in peace.
In the first phase, a 42-day ceasefire, there will be a temporary cessation of "hostilities" between Hamas and Israel.
Aaron David Miller, former Middle East negotiator at the U.S. State Department: [Hamas] released 33 Israeli detainees, mainly women, the elderly, and the infirm, in exchange for the release of an indeterminate number of Palestinians.
In the second phase, the two sides will work towards "sustainable calm," including the release of more detainees and Israel's full withdrawal from Gaza.
The third phase, when Israel ends its total blockade of the Gaza Strip, also involves a reconstruction plan for Gaza.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: We are glad that Hamas accepted the ceasefire proposal at our suggestion, and now Israel must do the same.
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller: I can confirm that Hamas has responded. We are reviewing the response and discussing it with our partners in the region.
However, just as the international community was eagerly awaiting the dawn of peace, Israel once again launched air strikes in eastern Rafah.
Palestinian people Malak: We were optimistic when Hamas agreed to the ceasefire proposal. But Israel is dragging its feet, they don't want to agree to a ceasefire, they want to attack Rafah.
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Spokesperson Lake: Can you imagine that heartbreaking disappointment when they [the Palestinians] learned that it was a false hope, that there was no ceasefire, just more war?
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said that the conditions of the ceasefire proposal accepted by Hamas were much lower than what the Israeli side demanded. Although delegations will still be sent to Egypt for consultations, they will not stop their operations in Rafah.
Israeli Government Spokesperson Menser: This is the beginning of our mission to eliminate the last four Hamas battalions in Rafah, and you should have no doubt about that.
The New York Times pointed out that in the latest ceasefire proposal, both Kazakhstan and Israel agreed to use the term "sustainable calm", but there are huge differences in the definition of this wording. Hamas, for its part, believes that "sustainable calm" means a permanent ceasefire and Israel's withdrawal from Gaza; Netanyahu's government has consistently opposed any ceasefire agreement that explicitly calls for an end to the war, and has said it will not agree to any deal until its military objectives are achieved.
Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith: Israel is refusing to withdraw completely because Netanyahu's goal has not been achieved, which is to destroy Hamas's ability to attack Israel.
There are also disagreements on the process of releasing detainees. The framework proposed by Hamas is for the release of the three detainees on the third day after the ceasefire begins, and then every seven days thereafter. And an earlier proposal was to release three people every three days. Analysts say that a longer release period would give Hamas more leverage in the second phase of the ceasefire, when the two sides work to achieve "sustainable calm." Israel, for its part, has tried to pressure Hamas to soften its negotiating stance by escalating its ground operations in Rafah.
Jerusalem correspondent Nathan Saar: The fundamental obstacle to all these ceasefire negotiations is a central issue, which is Hamas's demand to end the war while exchanging detainees, but Israel refused. Israel wants to get back the detainees and then continue its assault on Gaza.
The Israeli army's so-called "humanitarian zones" are struggling to accommodate displaced people
In the Wall Street Journal's view, the capture of the Rafah crossing was a precursor to Israel's large-scale ground operation against Rafah.
On the morning of 6 May, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began dropping leaflets and sending text messages demanding that people in eastern Rafah evacuate to the so-called "humanitarian zone" around the Mawasi area. IDF spokesman Hagari said Israeli planes had been "targeting more than 50 targets in the Rafah area" around the clock.
Palestinian: The situation is very difficult. The street we were on was hit by an air raid that hit an entire residential area.
Palestinian people: We don't know what to do, we are heading for the unknown.
Palestinian: I don't know where to go. I'd rather die, death is more dignified than that.
An UNRWA staff member said that some 50,000 people had left Rafah within 48 hours of the Israeli evacuation order being issued to eastern Rafah.
Gaza political analyst Tabate al-Amur: Until this moment, Israel has claimed that this is a limited military operation, but this is not the case, because it affects more than just one area of Rafah.
This reminded Al Jazeera of another "limited" operation that the Israeli army claimed.
In 1982, at the beginning of Israel's invasion of Lebanon, then-Israeli Prime Minister Begin claimed that Israeli troops would enter Lebanese territory only 40 kilometers. However, at 40 kilometers, the Israeli army did not stop, but continued to advance towards the capital Beirut and captured it until 2000, when Israel withdrew its troops from Lebanon.
And in the so-called "humanitarian zone" of Mawasi, the situation is not getting better. Basic necessities, including drinking water, have been found to be too expensive to afford.
Palestinian people Iyad: The water seller says that a gallon of water is three shekels, and we don't even have three shekels. We wanted a gallon of water, but we sold our food and drinks to buy a tent.
UNRWA Spokesperson Watich: Mahwasi is already a fairly densely populated area and does not have the proper infrastructure to accommodate thousands of displaced people. Therefore, this is not a good option.
"Talk and fight" to insist on attacking Rafa
But senior Israeli government and military officials insist that victory is unlikely without a ground assault on Rafah.
IDF spokesman Hagari: We will continue to operate in the Gaza Strip and will continue to do so.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Scholar Hahel: Over the past few weeks, Israelis have been vocal and constantly diverting their attention against the ceasefire. Insisting that they would attack Rafah, whether an agreement was reached or not. This, of course, would derail the negotiations.
Omar Rahman, an expert on Israel and Palestine at the Global Affairs Committee for the Middle East, pointed out that this shows that Israel is not sincere in pursuing ceasefire negotiations. The moment Hamas agreed to the ceasefire proposal, Israel began attacking Rafah to destroy the agreement.
American political analyst Kenneth Roth: Netanyahu is determined to keep pushing forward because he needs to keep this war going. Once the war is over, the political reckoning with the intelligence failures of October 7, 2023 will begin. He is likely to step down.
According to the BBC, Netanyahu has long assumed that Hamas will not accept a ceasefire. This would give the Israeli army a reason to further advance its military operations in Gaza in order to continue its political life.
And on the night of May 6, when Hamas announced that it would accept a ceasefire proposal, Netanyahu was caught off guard.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: Hamas's proposal yesterday (accepting a ceasefire) is aimed at blocking the entry of our troops into Rafah, which is impossible.
Elgindi, an Israeli-Palestinian analyst at the Middle East Institute, believes that this puts Netanyahu in an awkward position, as he can no longer claim that a reasonable ceasefire proposal does not exist.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Scholar Hahel: According to Israeli media reports, Israel accepted the terms of the ceasefire proposal not long ago, and Hamas just accepted almost the same terms yesterday. It's almost the same ceasefire offer, but the Israelis are now saying "No, we don't accept it." ”
On 8 May, Israel, Hamas and relevant mediators continued negotiations in Cairo, Egypt. Egyptian media quoted Egyptian officials as saying that the parties had reached a "significant consensus" on some controversial issues. But a day later, an Israeli official said ceasefire talks had broken down and that Israeli forces would continue to attack Rafah.
Omali, senior fellow, Near East Policy Institute, Washington: I've seen Israel enter southern Rafah as a way to put pressure on Hamas.
In the eyes of analysts, Israel's policy of "talking and fighting" is intended to use pressure to promote talks and force Hamas to make greater concessions in negotiations.
The United States threatens to stop supplying force to Israel and stage a "peace show"
The U.S. government has suspended arms shipments to the Middle East's number one ally as Israel launches a new operation against Rafah. The Wall Street Journal commented that this was Washington's first official attack against Israel's military operation in Gaza. However, in the view of Ecuadorian political analyst Carrio, the United States is nothing more than a "peace show" in response to increasing international pressure.
On May 8, U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time that the United States would not provide bombs and other weapons if the Israeli army attacked Rafah.
U.S. President Joe Biden: These bombs and other ways of attacking population centers have killed civilians in Gaza.
CNN commented that this is tantamount to acknowledging that the United States "played a certain role" in the process of causing a large number of civilian casualties in Gaza caused by Israeli forces.
On the same day, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed at a congressional hearing that the United States had suspended the shipment of some "high-payload munitions" to Israel, including 1,800 bombs weighing 2,000 pounds and 1,700 bombs weighing 500 pounds.
NPS Defense Correspondent, Nick Shifflin: About half of them were 2,000-pound bombs, which caused the most civilian casualties in Gaza.
There are several variants of this American-made 2000-pound bomb, some of which are designed to penetrate deep underground targets, while others are designed to explode on the ground and cause widespread destruction.
The Israeli military rarely disclosed the types of bombs used in Gaza. But based on the fragments of the explosion found at the scene and the analysis of the attack footage, weapons experts believe that the vast majority of the bombs dropped by Israeli forces on Gaza were made by the United States.
In the first month of Israel's military operation in Gaza alone, at least 500 craters in Gaza had characteristics that matched the blast marks of a 2,000-pound bomb, according to an independent task force of the U.S. Department of State and Department of Defense. American military analyst Ryan Brobst noted that Israel still needs to use 2,000-pound bombs to hit Hamas's tunnel network in Rafah.
The BBC believes that the US government's announcement of a moratorium on the supply of bombs at this time is undoubtedly taking into account political pressure.
On May 6, King Abdullah II of Jordan, during talks with Biden, asked Biden to intervene to stop Rafah's "new massacre." More importantly, the use of such American-made bombs in the densely populated Rafah will further arouse fierce criticism from public opinion in the United States. This is what Biden, who is under pressure for re-election, does not want to see.
Ecuadorian political analyst Calilo: I think it's just a face-saving gesture, or a show. You know, anti-war protests in American colleges and universities continue. The US election in November is just around the corner, but Biden's approval rating in the polls is currently behind Trump's. They have to show that they have the willingness to make a difference. But the question is, are they really willing to stop supplying arms to Israel?
Netanyahu, on the other hand, said that no friend, friend or foe, could shake his determination to attack Rafah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: If we have to go it alone, we will go it alone.
AFP commented that both Biden and Netanyahu are facing the dilemma of "burning eyebrows". And analysts believe that Netanyahu, who seems to be fighting hard, also has another purpose.
Former U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Dennis Ross: My sense is that from a political perspective, Netanyahu doesn't look like he's responding to Biden, not against the Israeli regime as a whole, but against his own right-wing allies.
Over the past few weeks, Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Finance Minister Bizarel Smotrih, have been threatening to leave and dismantle Netanyahu's ruling coalition if Israel agrees to a ceasefire.
On May 9, after the United States suspended its supply of arms to NAF, Itamar Ben-Gvir posted on social media, "Hamas loves Biden. ”
And Netanyahu, who relies on far-right allies to maintain his political survival, needs to take a stand at this point.
Former U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Dennis Roth: I think he [Netanyahu] said that because he wanted to try to appease the far-right ministers, namely Smotrich and Ben-Gvir.
Reuters noted that, unlike the "-for-tat" shown by the U.S.-Israeli leaders, the Israeli military, which was actually in charge of military operations, seemed to downplay the impact of the U.S. suspension of arms shipments.
IDF spokesman Hagari: The Israeli army has the ammunition it needs to carry out the plan, it has the ammunition it needs to carry out its mission in Rafah. We had what we needed.
The Wall Street Journal quoted Israeli officials and analysts as saying that Biden's suspension of some munitions delivery had little effect, was not a policy change at all, and would not affect Israel's actual combat capability in the short term.
This reminded the newspaper that in 1981, after Israel bombed Beirut, then-US President Ronald Reagan decided to postpone the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Israel in a political gesture, and now Biden is doing the same thing as Reagan in the past.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: I have known Joe Biden for many years, more than 40 years. We often agree, but we also disagree. We have always been able to overcome them.
Amit Segal, a political commentator on Israel's Channel 12, bluntly stated, "Biden played a yellow card, and the red card will never come." ”
Jerusalem correspondent for the New York Times, Nathan Saar: If Biden wants to end this, it's simple, and it should have ended a long time ago, not by threatening to suspend the supply of a small percentage of weapons, as is the case now. In the early days of this Gaza war, Israel simply could not continue its military operations without U.S. military supplies. The United States is completely complicit.
As recently as May 7, after Israel took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, Biden reaffirmed his support for Israel at a commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust.
U.S. PRESIDENT BIDEN: My commitment to the security of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and its right to exist as an independent Jewish nation is steely, even in the time we face disagreements.
In the eyes of the outside world, Biden is striking a balance between favoring Israel and salvaging his political reputation.
U.S. media reported that while suspending the delivery of heavy bombs to Israel, it also approved an additional $827 million in other weapons and equipment to the Israeli military.
Ali Torani, director of security assistance, arms trade, and technology at the Center for International Policy, said bluntly that if the Biden administration does not actually cut aid to Israel, the Netanyahu government has no urgency to change its behavior.
Palestine Chronicle editor Barud: American politicians have been deceiving the Palestinians. "The Washington Post", "The New York Times", sometimes "Politico" and other media, from time to time there is always some news leaked, saying that "Biden is angry with Israel", "Netanyahu and Biden have a bad call" and so on. They did this to give us hope, but every time we were disappointed, so the Americans were just playing tricks.
Since the outbreak of the current round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the international community has been calling for a ceasefire and an end to the fighting. Thanks to the good offices efforts of all parties, negotiations between Israel and Hamas on a new interim ceasefire agreement are continuing.
As UN Secretary-General António Guterres called this week, it is hoped that all parties concerned will spare no effort to reach a ceasefire agreement to avoid an "explosive outcome".
Source: CCTV News