Israeli military aircraft have heavily bombed the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip accompanied with ground advances shortly after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas said it had agreed to a proposal on ceasefire in Gaza.
A Palestinian journalist reported flares in the night sky, while locals said dozens of reconnaissance drones flew overhead.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa and Egyptian media said Israeli military vehicles advanced towards the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, as well as the Karem Shalom crossing with the Israeli-occupied territories.
A Palestinian security official and an Egyptian authority have told the Associated Press news agency that Israeli tanks have entered Rafah, reaching as close as 200 meters from Rafah’s border crossing with neighboring Egypt.
The Israeli military has said it was conducting “targeted strikes” against Hamas in eastern Rafah.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has also said "Israel is continuing the operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas" in order to advance the release of captives and what it called "the other objectives of the war."
In the meantime, it described the proposal on ceasefire as "far from Israel's essential demands," but added that it would send negotiators for talks "to exhaust the potential for arriving at an agreement."
The military strikes on Rafah came ahead of talks in Egypt on Tuesday aimed at sealing a truce proposal accepted by Hamas, which was put forward by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
According to a copy of the proposal, there will be three phases to ending Israel’s onslaught against Gaza.
The first phase calls for a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Netzarim corridor and the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes. The second phase involves an announcement of a permanent cessation of military operations. In the last phase, there would be a complete end to the blockade of the Gaza Strip.
In return, Israel would be required to release an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners, withdraw its troops from certain regions of the Gaza Strip, and allow Palestinians to travel from the south of the coastal sliver to the north.
About 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering in Rafah, once designated a “safe zone” by the Israeli military. Palestinians are now struggling to evacuate the city, after the Israeli military dropped leaflets ordering them to leave as a large-scale assault on the city is planned.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that a ground invasion of Rafah would be “intolerable” and called on Israel and Hamas “to go an extra mile” to reach a truce deal.
“This is an opportunity that cannot be missed, and a ground invasion in Rafah would be intolerable because of its devastating humanitarian consequences, and because of its destabilizing impact in the region,” Guterres told reporters on Monday ahead of a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in New York.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has also warned that Israel is “jeopardizing the deal by bombing Rafah.”
Comments
@ Saboor,
Of course ppl will not forget if he did any good work at all..and ppl will not forget if he did'nt listen to them..so its vice-versa. He may have done good work in other places but if you are really from kana pls let me know one good
Dear Ansari,
What you think about Moidin, and What leasson will teach in 2018 election. people will not forget what good work he did for his constitution. He did lots of job for public in Surathkal - Kana area.
So keep quiet in political field you don't know politics.
Dear All,
Mr. Bawa came not for enjoying purpose. He came to Riyadh to participate in Beary Sangama Programme. After return to Mangalore he will finish the work pending in Surathkkal. So no one should worry about that.
He is a gentleman. Not like Palemar...
Ms. Vidya, why Palemar was watching blue films in assembly if he is good....he should have utilized his time in assembly for the progress of people of our constituency....they are all disaster....and same....
welcome to Riyadh ;)
People of this constitute will teach good lesson at 2018 election.
We appreciate Coastal Digest for bringing all political leaders issue without any partiality or any group wise like other chaddi paper of rss member.
Keep it up Coastal Digest
Jai Hind
Hahaha. I wholeheartedly congratulate Coastaldigest.com team for bringing this issue to light. Keep it up. expose more bearys and stop peeping into RSS chaddi.
# Vidya, If Palemar was better how he lost last election? Surathkal people will decide what to do and what not to do. Take care yourself at Dubai instead of nose in to non related matters by sitting in Dubai.
He is good for photo ops!!
Do we really need this kind of politicians? Palemar was million times better than him. Hope people of his constituency will teach him a good lesson in 2018.
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