The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) attack on Hamas positions in Rafah, in southern Gaza, began Monday with a fight to seize two key strategic points: the Rafah-Egypt border crossing, and the Philadelphi road along the Egyptian border.
Israeli forces, including artillery and armored forces, encountered moderate resistance from Hamas fighters as they battled for several hours along the three kilometers between the Gaza-Israel border and the Rafah border crossing.
There were no Israeli casualties reported, though several dozen Palestinian casualties were said to have occurred.
Images and videos on social media showed an Israeli tank arriving at the Rafah crossing, then the Palestinian flag being replaced by the Israeli flag — the first time in nearly 20 years that Israel has physically controlled that border.
In a statement, the IDF said:
Overnight (Monday), IDF ground troops began a precise counterterrorism operation based on IDF and ISA [Israel Security Agency] intelligence to eliminate Hamas terrorists and dismantle Hamas terrorist infrastructure within specific areas of eastern Rafah.
Prior to the operation, the IDF encouraged residents in the area of eastern Rafah to temporarily evacuate to the expanded humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi, where the IDF has facilitated the expansion of field hospitals, tents, and an increase in water, food, and medical supplies. International organizations working in the area were also encouraged to temporarily evacuate prior to the beginning of the operation.
Following intelligence that indicated that the Rafah Crossing in eastern Rafah was being used for terrorist purposes, IDF troops managed to establish operational control of the Gazan side of the crossing. On Sunday, mortars were fired from the area of the Rafah Crossing toward the area of the Kerem Shalom Crossing, as a result of which four IDF soldiers were killed and a number of other soldiers injured.
Furthermore, as part of the operational activity, IDF ground troops and IAF fighter jets struck and eliminated Hamas terror targets in the Rafah area, including military structures, underground infrastructure, and additional terrorist infrastructure from which Hamas operated in the Rafah area. Since the start of the operational activity, approximately 20 terrorists have been eliminated and three operational tunnel shafts have been located. No injuries were reported.
IDF ground troops are continuing to operate against Hamas terrorist operatives and infrastructure in the area of the Rafah Crossing in eastern Rafah.
Israel hopes to hold the Rafah crossing as a way of preventing Hamas leaders from escaping Gaza, or importing more weapons to Gaza, during the ensuing fight for the town, which is where Hamas’s last four battalions are located.
The United Nations objected to Israel taking the Rafah crossing, saying that it will obstruct the movement of aid into Gaza. Hamas attacked the Kerem Shalom crossing over the weekend with little objection from the United Nations.
There is currently a surplus of humanitarian aid supplies in northern Gaza, and local informal markets are said to be bustling with a variety of foods and other goods, though the United Nations says that Gaza is running low on fuel.
It is not clear when the Israeli mission in Rafah will expand, but the IDF is expected to act slowly and methodically.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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