A top US Official said President Joe Biden administration was closely monitoring the situation in Rafah after a deadly Israeli air strike triggered a fire at the tent camp in Southern Gaza killing 45 Palestinians. However, Israel’s ongoing assault in Rafah still doesn’t amount to a full-scale invasion which would breach Biden’s red lines, he added.
On May 28, 2024, the National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House that the Israelis have said that this is a tragic mistake adding that the United States doesn’t have measuring stick here or a quota, an international media agency reported.
“We have also said we don’t want to see a ground operation in Rafah that would make it really hard for the Israelis to go after Hamas without causing extensive damage and potentially a large number of deaths. We have not seen that yet. We have not seen them smashing into Rafah,” he said and noted that the Jewish state operations were mostly in a corridor on the outskirts of Rafah
Meanwhile, Algeria will present a draft resolution at the United States Security Council (UNSC) on May 29, 2024 calling to stop the killing in Rafah. Since Israel launched its ongoing assault in Rafah on May 6, 2024 more than one million people were forced to flee the city, some UN figures reported.
The US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the Israelis have said that they used 37-pound bombs, precision guided munitions. If it is in fact what they have used, it is certainly indicative of an effort to be discreet and targeted and precise. Now, obviously this had tragic results and obviously that needs to be investigated.
Echoing Kirby’s remarks, the US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that Washington will be closely watching Israel’s probe into Rafah strike, but the Jewish State military operations so far in the city have been not been as large scale as those in central or northern Gaza. The Israeli military said it has launched a probe to determine what triggered the massive fire at the tent camp in Rafah following the airstrike.
On May 28, 2024, the Israeli shelling and airstrikes killed at least 37 people near Rafah. While 16 people died due to the shelling in Rafah’s western Tel-Al-Sultan district, 21 others including 13 women died after an airstrike by an Israeli drone hit tents near a field hospital by the Mediterranean Coast west of the city.
Meanwhile Algeria has circulated to all UN Security Council Members a proposed draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the unconditional release of its hostages an UN diplomat told an international media agency. It remains how the US will vote on this. Algerian Ambassador Amar Bendjama told reporters that it will be short text, a decisive text, to stop the killing in Rafah. The Council convened an urgent meeting on May 28, 2024 which was also requested by Algeria.
At least 9000 people have been displaced from Rafah in the past three weeks as a result of the intensification of the hostilities and issuance of the orders of evacuation by Israeli forces, an international news media quoted the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) as saying. Health facilities there continue to face dire shortages of fuel and medical supplies while having to cope up with rising influx of casualties due to injuries and burns.
While the Kerem Shalom crossing remains open in principle it is extremely difficult for aid organisations to access from Gaza side due to the hostilities, challenging and logistical conditions and complex coordination procedures. A US military-built pier off Gaza’s coast is being temporarily moved after a part of the structure broke off the Pentagon said on May 25, 2024.
Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said the pier would be towed over the next 48 hours to Ashdod Port in Israel for repairs adding that it would take over a week to repair and then turned to its place off the coast off Gaza, a media agency reported. Since the pier, announced by the Joe Biden in March 2024 began operations, the UN has transported 137 trucks of aid.
Israeli tanks rolled into central Rafah on May 28, 2024, for the first time in the country’s seven-month war against Hamas signalling a new phase of offensive. While one witness told an international media agency that the tanks were seen in Al Awda roundabout in the city centre another said the tanks advanced in the middle of the night.
Spain, Norway and Ireland on May 28, 2024 formally recognised Palestine as a state joining more than 140 countries to have done so since 1988. The Three European countries will begin the process of appointing an ambassador and opening an embassy there.
Slovenia will also this week consider a proposal to recognise and independent Palestinian state. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead in Rafah saying that Israeli forces must enter the city to dismantle Hamas and return hostages taken in October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the war in Gaza.
