![Smoke rises following Israeli airstrike on east of Rafah, Gaza as Palestinians leave their homes on May 07, 2024. [Ahmed Majed - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/AA-20240507-34494333-34494314-PALESTINIANS_LEAVE_THEIR_HOMES_AFTER_INCREASING_ISRAELI_AIRSTRIKES_IN_RAFAH.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Egypt declined to coordinate with Israel on facilitating aid entry into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing due to Israel’s “unacceptable escalation,” according to AlQahera News, quoting a senior official.
The senior official further stated that Egypt held Israel accountable for the worsening conditions in the Gaza Strip.
This comes after the Israeli Occupation forces seized control of the Rafah Crossing last week and its tanks pushed into the southern Gazan town of Rafah after Israel refused a ceasefire deal which the Palestinian Resistance Movement, Hamas, agreed to, vowing instead to move ahead with its onslaught on Rafah.
Palestinians in Rafah have been living in tented camps and makeshift shelters. Many are trying to flee once again, heeding Israeli orders for them to leave the area, but with large areas of the coastal enclave already laid to waste, they say they have nowhere safe to go to.
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The Rafah Crossing, Gaza’s only lifeline to the outside world, was closed after Israeli military tanks took over the facility banning aid trucks from entering the besieged enclave.
Red Crescent sources in Egypt said aid to Gaza had completely halted at Rafah and at the Israeli-controlled Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) Crossing.
The United States and other foreign governments have been pressing Israel not to start a campaign in Rafah until it had drawn up a humanitarian plan for the Palestinians sheltering there.
The Israeli military control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah Crossing is the latest in a deadly offensive launched by Tel Aviv since 7 October 2023, following a Hamas attack that killed nearly 1,200.
However, since then, it has been revealed by Haaretz that helicopters and tanks of the Israeli army had, in fact, killed many of the 1,139 soldiers and civilians claimed by Israel to have been killed by the Palestinian Resistance.
At least 35,000 Palestinians, most of them children and women, have been killed since Israel launched its brutal bombing campaign in Gaza. An estimated 8,000 Palestinians are missing, presumed dead, under the rubble of their homes destroyed by Israel.
Seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85 per cent of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which, in January, issued an interim ruling that ordered it to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.