Jordan: Israel occupied the Rafah crossing instead of giving negotiations an opportunity

Jordan – Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Tuesday that Israel occupied the Rafah crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, and closed it to humanitarian aid, instead of giving an opportunity for negotiations.

Al-Safadi considered that the attack on the city of Rafah threatens another massacre in the Strip, stressing that the Security Council must act decisively immediately, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must face real consequences.

An Israeli official reported on Tuesday that a “medium-level” Israeli team was heading to Cairo to assess Hamas’ position on the ceasefire.

Reuters quoted the Israeli official as saying that the Israeli delegation will travel to Egypt in the coming hours to evaluate the possibility of convincing the Palestinian faction movement to change its position regarding the proposal it agreed to for a ceasefire, indicating that the proposal does not suit Israel, as he put it.

The official added to the agency that the delegation is composed of mid-level envoys, and if a real agreement is reached in the near future, senior officials will head the delegation.

The faction movement announced on Monday that it had informed the Qatari and Egyptian mediators of its approval of their proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

This comes as the Israeli army announced yesterday, Tuesday, that it had taken control of the Palestinian part of the Rafah crossing, cutting off the road between the crossing and Salah al-Din Road, and bombing 100 targets overnight.

The Israeli incursion came despite international and international opposition, fearing a humanitarian catastrophe in the area inhabited by approximately 1.5 Palestinians, and the day following Israel issued evacuation orders for regarding 100,000 Gazans in the eastern parts of Rafah, who were asked to evacuate to a safe area near Khan Yunis, north of Rafah.

Source: Agencies