After Israeli forces took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt earlier this month, aid trucks entered Gaza from southern Israel earlier on Sunday.
For the first time in months, Tel Aviv and central Israel were the target of a massive rocket barrage on Sunday. The Jerusalem Post said that the rockets were fired from Rafah, which is located in the southern Gaza Strip. In central Israel, the Israeli military alerted Tel Aviv's sirens to potential rocket attacks. The Israeli military did not immediately disclose the reason.
After Israeli forces took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt earlier this month, aid trucks entered Gaza from southern Israel earlier on Sunday. However, given the continuous fighting in the region, it was unclear if humanitarian organisations would be able to access the aid.
Egypt won't allow the Rafah crossing to reopen on its side until the Palestinians regain control of the Gaza side. Following a phone conversation between US President Joe Biden and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, it consented to temporarily reroute traffic through Gaza's primary cargo terminal, Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing.
Nevertheless, fighting associated with Israel's offensive in the neighbouring city of Rafah has rendered that crossing virtually unusable. Although hundreds of trucks have reportedly been allowed into Israel, according to UN agencies, it is typically too risky to retrieve aid from the other side.
Nearly 36,000 Palestinians have died in the eight months of the war between Israel and Hamas, according to local health officials. Approximately 80% of the 2.3 million people living there have left their homes, extreme hunger is pervasive, and according to UN reports, famine is occurring in some areas of the region.
With its attack into Israel on October 7, during which Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and took about 250 hostages, Hamas started the conflict.
With its attack on Israel on October 7, during which Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and took about 250 hostages, Hamas started the conflict. About a hundred hostages remain in the hands of Hamas, along with the remains of about thirty more, the majority of whom were freed during a cease-fire last year.
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