Israel army says in ‘operational control’ of Gaza side of Rafah crossing

1 week ago

Israel army says in ‘operational control’ of Gaza side of Rafah crossing

Displaced Palestinians who left with their belongings from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip following an evacuation order by the Israeli army, arrive to Khan Yunis on May 6, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. — AFP pic

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Tuesday, 07 May 2024 2:45 PM MYT

JERUSALEM, May 7 — The Israeli army said it took “operational control” of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Tuesday and that troops were scanning the area.

“Last night, IDF (army) troops managed to establish operational control of the Gazan side of (Rafah) crossing,” the military said.

“Right now, at the moment what’s happening, we have operational control over the Gazan side of Rafah crossing, and we have special forces scanning the area to find additional terror infrastructure or terrorists,” the military said.

“We are only talking about the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing.”

The military said it was currently engaged in a “very targeted operation and a very limited scope against very specific targets” in eastern Rafah.

“A vast amount of the organisation and the people in the area within (which) we gave the evacuation notice yesterday (Monday) moved to a safer zone.”

Since the start of its operation in eastern Rafah the military has killed 20 militants, it said. — AFP