The takeover of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, bordering Egypt, aims to be only the beginning of the Israeli offensive. This was stated this Tuesday by the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, when he assured that the taking of this Rafah border point is a very important step for the military destruction of Hamas.

Until a few hours ago, this border point with Egypt was the only place that they did not control, but as they confirmed this Tuesday, Israel now has absolute control of the Rafah border crossing, in the south of the Gaza Strip. They entered with Israeli tanks, destroying everything in their path and ended up raising the Israeli flag, thus demonstrating their new display of violence.

There are several reasons that confirm the importance of this takeover. Every aid truck has to go through an Israeli checkpoint, which is responsible for saying yes or no to the products that enter. Several tons of aid, vital for daily life, have been rejected by Israeli decision.

In addition, Rafah is also the route through which Gazans with dual nationality, with relatives in Egypt or Egyptians, or those who have been able to pay “coordination fees” have been able to escape from the conflict to the country of the pharaohs. Every night the crossing authorities on the Palestinian side publish a list of people who have been approved, whose application and acceptance can take several weeks, to be able to cross into Sinai. Now, with the Israeli flag raised on the Palestinian side of Rafah, the movement of people and humanitarian aid may be impacted, further aggravating the devastation suffered by the Mediterranean enclave.

The UN fears that this will get worse

But what is feared is that this will not just stop here, and that Israel will take advantage of this power to go further. Not only has Netanyahu dropped this possibility, his Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, has also supported it. This Tuesday he assured that the military operation in the city of Rafá will not stop until the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is “eliminated” from the area or the hostages captured on October 7 by the Palestinian militia are released.

“Yesterday I ordered the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) to enter the Rafah area, take the crossing and carry out their missions. This operation will continue until we eliminate Hamas in the Rafah area and the entire Gaza Strip. Gaza, or until the first hostage returns,” he said.

These words have done set off alarms at the UN, where they believe this could mean an all-out assault by Israel on the city of Rafah. UN Secretary General António Guterres has warned that an assault on the city of Rafah “would be a strategic error, a political calamity and a humanitarian nightmare.”

“Even Israel’s best friends are clear about this,” Guterres commented in reference to the United States, which has asked Israel to avoid a large-scale incursion in Rafah. On the other hand, this afternoon the president of the United States, Joe Biden, has reaffirmed his support for Israel. “Let me assure you, as president, that you are not alone. My commitment to the security of the Jewish people, the security of Israel and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad, even when we disagree,” he stressed.