Israeli and Egyptian Armies Clash at Rafah Crossing – Developing Story

The Rafah crossing separating besieged Gaza from Egypt. (Photo: Road to Gaza 060, via Wikimedia Commons)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

UPDATE: According to the Israeli newspaper Walla, two Egyptian soldiers were killed by Israeli army gunfire. Al-Jazeera explained that the Israeli military censorship deleted news about the incident.

An “unusual incident” occurred between the Israeli and Egyptian armies at the Rafah crossing, separating besieged Gaza from Egypt, Israeli media reported.

The incident, first reported by Israeli Channel 13, was later confirmed by other media.

Israeli Channel 14 revealed that Egyptian soldiers opened fire on Israeli soldiers inside the Rafah crossing and no casualties were reported. 

However, Al-Jazeera cited other Israeli reports as saying that Egyptian security opened fire on an Israeli truck, and Israeli soldiers responded with gunfire, causing casualties.

According to the reports, Israeli occupation forces responded with fire as a warning.

Sources added that this incident came at the height of tension with Egypt, and may have important political consequences.

Al-Jazeera explained that the Israeli military censorship deleted news about the incident.

Egypt’s Condemnation 

On Monday morning, Egypt strongly condemned the Israeli army’s targeting of a displacement camp in the southern city of Rafah. 

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing Israel of deliberate “bombardment” of the displaced people center .

The ministry also called on Israel to “implement the measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning an immediate cessation of military operations” in Rafah.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has recently reiterated that his country rejects any possible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.

The Egyptian government has repeatedly expressed concerns over Israel’s suggested option of forcibly expelling Palestinians from Gaza to the Egyptian side of the Sinai region.

Gaza Genocide

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7. 

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 36,050 Palestinians have been killed, and 81,026 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.

Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip. 

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children. 

 The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

 Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

(PC, AJA)

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