NPR: Israel seized control of the Rafah border crossing. The impact could be devastating

Thousands of Palestinians, including women and children, migrated from the neighborhoods in the east of Rafah and reaches the coastal side of the city of Deir al-Balah. Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images

Israel has seized control of the Rafah border crossing. The consequences could be devastating for civilians.

Since the beginning of Israel's war in Gaza, Palestinians have been pushed farther and farther south. At least 1.3 million people have now been squeezed into Rafah, a small area bordering Egypt. More than half of those people fled fighting in other parts of Gaza.

On Monday, Israeli forces dropped leaflets from the sky in Rafah instructing people to seek refuge in an "expanded humanitarian area" north and northwest of the city. The U.N. says now more than 75% of the Gaza Strip is under evacuation orders.

Less than 24 hours later, Israeli tanks rolled into the eastern part of Rafah, seizing control of the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

Israeli airstrikes had already been pounding Rafah for weeks, killing hundreds since late March — most of them women and children, according to hospital records.

No aid can pass through the crossing, and one of the area's main medical centers has shut down.... READ MORE  https://www.npr.org/2024/05/08/1198911436/rafah-border-crossing-humanitarian-crisis-israel-offensive-what-comes-next

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