Egypt prepares to open Rafah crossing as Israeli bombing continues and kills several Hamas military leaders

Gaza is still waiting for humanitarian aid. A day after the United States announced the approval of Israel and Egypt to open the Rafah crossing, the trucks continue to be parked waiting to cross the border. The conditions of the road after the Israeli bombings mean that Egypt has to fix the road before allowing the long-awaited aid to pass through.

The four bombings that hit the Palestinian side of the border during the Israeli offensive have made it impossible for trucks to cross this Thursday. An Egyptian security source assured the EFE agency that there are workers “paving and repairing the roads towards the Rafah crossing and within the crossing itself.”. The exact moment when it will open and trucks will begin to travel is still unknown, as well as the number of vehicles that will be able to do so.

Biden assured on Wednesday that 20 trucks would cross, although it was later specified that the amount of aid to be delivered had not yet been set and that it would depend on the speed of crossing and the availability of aid.. This Thursday the European Commission warned that placing conditions to allow the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza by reducing supplies or restricting permitted items violates International Humanitarian Law.

The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, who met this Thursday in Jerusalem with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, has also spoken about the entry of humanitarian aid.. During the meeting, which comes a day after Joe Biden's, the British president assured that he “absolutely supports Israel's right to defend itself in line with international law” and expressed his desire for the Israeli Army to “win” this conflict. .

Israel continues bombing

Meanwhile, in the rest of the Strip, Israeli airstrikes continue to hit the enclave and, according to the Jewish State, have killed several Hamas leaders.

This Thursday the Al Andalus tower, a 14-story building, was reduced to rubble, causing dozens of deaths, according to sources from Hamas, which governs Gaza.. The Islamist group has also stated that four hospitals have stopped functioning due to “continuous bombings.”. Israel also attacked the vicinity of several bakeries and a house in the center of the southern city of Khan Younis, leaving 13 dead and several wounded, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. The Gazan militias responded to the attacks by launching rockets towards Israel, forcing alarms to be activated in the regions near the Strip and in Tel Aviv; although no personal injuries have been reported as a result of these attacks.

For its part, the Israeli Army confirmed this Thursday that its bombings have hit Hamas military posts and facilities and have killed senior officials of the Islamist group and the Palestinian militias.. One of the dead soldiers is Rafat Harb Hussein Abu Bilal, head of the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees organization, the third largest militia in Gaza.. According to the media office of the Gazan Government, another person killed in the Israeli attacks this Thursday was Jihad Muheisen, commander of the National Security Forces, a military security body in the enclave.. In addition, the first woman to occupy a position in the political office of Hamas, Jamila al Shanti, also died as a result of a bombing.

The Israeli air offensive has already left 3,800 dead, according to information provided by Hamas. The Ministry of Health of the enclave has assured that among the dead there are 1,524 children and 12,500 people have been injured (4,000 of them minors).. This new episode of the conflict began on October 7 when Hamas launched an attack against Israeli territory that caused at least 1,400 deaths, many of them civilians, and kidnapped nearly 200 people who remain in the hands of the Islamist group.

Is the conflict moving to the West Bank?

Miles from Gaza, the conflict in the West Bank is also worsening. An Israeli Army operation in the Nur Shams refugee camp has left 12 dead, according to the Wafa agency. The offensive lasted for hours and included a drone attack. In addition, more than 130 Palestinians have been detained in recent hours in various parts of the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli Army has assured that the objective is to neutralize “terrorist squads” and has stated that at least 63 of those detained were part of Hamas and were being sought and captured.. In recent years, the West Bank has experienced a resurgence of armed groups that openly propose direct confrontation with Israel as the only way to advance in a conflict that has been entrenched for decades.. Since the new episode of the war in Gaza began, raids and clashes in the West Bank have intensified and there is a risk that the conflict could also be transferred to this area.