Israeli tanks entering the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on May 7, 2024. Aid cannot come in. [Picture: Israeli army via AFP]
Crucial supplies may soon run out in war-torn Gaza as Israel has shut a key aid route. The closure of the Rafah crossing, between Gaza and Palestine, comes as the apartheid regime escalates its assault on the Palestinian enclave.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, just hours after the occupation forces confirmed they had taken “operational control” over the border, the European Union’s (EU) Josep Borrell called out Benjamin Netanyahu’s defiance.
“The Rafah offensive has started again, in spite of all the requests of the international community, the US, the European Union member states, everybody asking Netanyahu not to attack,” he said.
The EU’s top diplomat added: “I am afraid that this is going to cause again a lot of casualties, civilian casualties. Whatever they say … there are no safe zones in Gaza.”
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Aid halted
After exactly seven months of unprecedented massacre in the besieged enclave, the occupation forces rolled their tanks into Rafah. In this city, more than a million civilians are seeking refuge from the raining bombs and the flurry of bullets elsewhere in the Gaza Strip.
Months of war have brought the enclave to the brink. Much needed aid is yet again in jeopardy, since the military seized control and shut the border. Food, water, medical supplies and electricity – all critical to sustain life – are hard to come by.
Speaking in an interview on Salaamedia, Ashraf Skaik, who fled with his family to the westernmost corner of the territory, confirmed the news.
“There is nothing coming to Gaza through the border”, he said, adding that Gazans expect the latest assault will “take a long time” and that it will bring a wave of “hard conditions”.
