IDF says it now controls Gaza side of Rafah crossing

The Israeli military has taken control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday.

“Following intelligence indicating that the Rafah crossing in eastern Rafah was being used for terrorist purposes, IDF troops gained operational control of the Gaza side of the crossing,” the army wrote on its Telegram channel.

This followed a nighttime operation in which ground troops, together with the air force, “launched a precise counterterrorism operation” to eliminate the Palestinian Islamic militia Hamas and dismantle its infrastructure in eastern Rafah, the IDF said.

It said it eliminated Hamas’ military structures, underground infrastructure and other facilities that the group operated. The army said around 20 Hamas fighters were killed in the operation. There were no reports of Israeli injuries, the IDF said.

On Monday, Israeli forces began evacuating Rafah, in southern Gaza, as they prepared for an expected military operation there.

Israel’s allies and other international leaders have warned against an offensive on Rafah. Large numbers of Palestinian civilians have sought shelter in the city after fleeing Israeli airstrikes and ground operations elsewhere in the Gaza Strip.

Israel wants to use the military operation in Rafah to crush the remaining battalions of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas, which has been fighting in the coastal strip since it invaded Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages.

The remaining more than 100 hostages are believed to be held in Rafah.

Israel has been threatening to launch a ground offensive on Rafah for months, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken an uncompromising stance in recent weeks, vowing to attack the city even if a deal was reached to release the hostages.