Israel issues warning to Egypt: We will bomb trucks heading to Gaza with aid
A convoy of bulldozers and heavy equipment provided by Egypt reaches Gaza, 2021
Getty
Israel has informed Egypt that it will bomb any potential truck columns heading from Egypt to Gaza with aid.
News organisation Israel 12 has reported that the country has warned Egypt not to send aid.
"If you bring in supplies, we will bomb the Gaza truck," they have reported the Israeli government as saying.
Meanwhile, Hamas has just announced that they will strike the Israeli city of Ashkelon with a major rocket barrage later today.
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The terrorist group has warned residents to leave their homes by 5pm today if they want to be spared.
“In response to the enemy’s crime of displacing our people and forcing them to flee their homes in several areas of the Gaza Strip, we give the residents of the occupied city of Ashkelon a deadline to leave before 5 pm,” Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeida said.
Israeli police have said they are operating in Ashkelon as well as Ashdod, monitoring the situation.
They said: “Police officers are working to secure the perimeter and search for any additional explosive material or shrapnel to allow emergency and rescue teams to arrive and evacuate the injured as needed.”
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Israel 12 has reported that following the warning to Egypt, fuel trucks and Egyptian goods that were supposed to enter the Gaza Strip, withdrew from the Rafah crossing.
A report on the El Arabiya network has said that Egypt has closed the crossing indefinitely.
The Rafah crossing is the only point into Egypt's Sinai Peninsula for Gaza's 2.3 million residents.
The rest of the strip is surrounded by Israel and the sea.
Aftermath of Israeli strikes
Reuters
The passage of people and goods is strictly controlled under a blockade of Gaza enforced by Egypt and Israel.
Bombardments from Israel hit the crossing today, Palestinian officials and Egyptian security sources said.
The strikes have halted operations at the only formal exit point on Gaza's southern border.
Gaza's Hamas-run Interior Ministry said bombardments on both had hit an entry gate on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, causing work to stop there.
Egyptian staff had warned Palestinians to evacuate, it said.
On Monday, about 800 people left Gaza through the Rafah crossing and about 500 people entered, though the crossing was closed for the movement of goods, according to the United Nations humanitarian office.