Israel said it had instituted a daily “tactical pause” in its military activities along a road in southern Gaza to allow for the distribution of aid, but assured that there would be no letup in fighting in and around Rafah in southern Gaza.
The breaks began on Saturday and will take place daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time until further notice to allow trucks to move from the Kerem Shalom crossing, the main entry point for humanitarian aid entering southern Gaza, to the Salah al-Din road and north, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Shortly after announcing the decision, the Israeli military said that “the fighting in Rafah continues,” adding that “there is no change in the entry of goods into the Gaza Strip.”
A bottleneck has formed in the delivery of humanitarian aid to Kerem Shalom due to Israeli airstrikes and fighting in much of southern Gaza.
Serious humanitarian crisis: Human rights groups have described the “indescribable” living conditions of Palestinians in Gaza after eight months of Israeli bombardment. The Israeli military campaign has pulverized neighborhoods, damaged health infrastructure and depleted supplies of food, water and fuel.
More than 50,000 children in Gaza now need treatment for acute malnutrition, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said in a message posted on X on Saturday.
Last month, Israel continued its ground operation in central Rafah, saying Hamas fighters were embedded in civilian areas of the enclave’s southernmost town.
The operation has forced hundreds of thousands of already displaced people to leave the area. Gazans say they were bombed even as they evacuated to supposedly safe areas, and that they now have nowhere to go. Internally displaced Palestinians are estimated to be packed into an area of 69 square kilometers.
Israeli leaders criticize this decision: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unhappy when he first heard about the plan, according to an Israeli official.
Netanyahu then contacted his military secretary and told him that this decision was unacceptable until he was certain that the fighting in Rafah would continue. This raises the question of where the “tactical pause” order came from, but it is likely that it will continue.
Israeli Security Minister Ben Gvir, a leading right-wing member of the government, condemned the pause. “Whoever decided on a ‘tactical pause’ for the purpose of a humanitarian transition, especially at a time when the best of our soldiers are falling in combat, is a wrongdoer and a fool who should not remain in his post,” he said.
Fights and fatal blows: Heavy fighting and airstrikes have rocked Rafah as Israeli efforts to destroy Hamas in Gaza continue. A civil defense official in the enclave told CNN that heavy clashes continued Sunday in Rafah’s western neighborhoods.
Ahmed Radwan, media officer for the Rafah Civil Defense, said the organization had received requests to recover bodies and the wounded, but that it was difficult for teams to access many areas due to Israeli military operations.
On Saturday, eight IDF soldiers were killed near the city, one of the deadliest incidents of the war for Israeli troops.
cnn
