RAFAH (AFP) – Israeli strikes hit Gaza yesterday after renewed United States (US) criticism over its conduct of the war and a United Nations (UN) warning of “epic” disaster if an outright invasion of crowded Rafah city occurs.
AFP journalists reported the strikes in various sectors of the coastal territory, where the UN said aid is blocked after Israeli troops defied international opposition and entered eastern Rafah this week, effectively shutting two crossings.
A long-awaited US State Department report on Friday said Israel likely violated norms on international law in its use of weapons from the US – its main military supplier – but it did not find enough evidence to block shipments.
The State Department submitted its report two days after US President Joe Biden publicly threatened to withhold certain bombs and artillery shells if Israel goes ahead with an all-out assault on Rafah, where the UN said 1.4 million had been sheltering.
After rising criticism from Washington over the civilian impact of Israel’s war against Hamas Palestinian militants, the threat was the first time Biden raised the ultimate US leverage over Israel – its military aid which totals USD3 billion annually.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that Gaza risked an “epic humanitarian disaster” if Israel launched a full-scale ground operation in Rafah. Israeli troops on Tuesday seized and closed the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza – through which all fuel passes into the territory – after ordering residents of eastern Rafah to evacuate.
Israel said its southern crossing with the Palestinian territory – Kerem Shalom – was reopened on Wednesday. UN report late Friday said both crossings remain “heavily militarised” and cited the UN’s Aid Chief Martin Griffiths as saying closure of the crossings “means no aid”.
