Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza's Rafah border crossing early on Tuesday.
The Israel Defense Forces said on X that "A precise counterterrorism operation to eliminate Hamas terrorists and infrastructure within specific areas of eastern Rafah began overnight, based on intelligence."
The Israeli 401st Brigade took "operational control" of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing.
4 mortar shells were launched from the area of Rafah toward Israeli territory, following the sirens that sounded in the Kerem Shalom area.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 7, 2024
2 additional rocket launches were also identified from the area of Rafah toward Israeli territory.
These launches are further evidence of… https://t.co/wycFg7zQI5
Images released by the military showed Israeli flags flying from tanks after the operation.
The military said residents in eastern Rafah were encouraged to evacuate to Al-Mawasi before the assault.
The crossing connects the blockaded territory to Egypt and is one of the main access points for aid into Gaza.
The operation does not appear to be the large-scale offensive into Rafah that Israel has planned.
Israel's attack came after conflicting reports about a possible cease-fire. On Monday, Hamas said it had agreed to a cease-fire but Israel responded that it was not any agreement it had been OK with.
Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the U.N. humanitarian affairs office told the Associated Press that Israeli authorities have denied it access to the Rafah crossing.
He says that disruption at Rafah could break the fragile aid operation.
"It will plunge this crisis into unprecedented levels of need, including the very real possibility of a famine," he said.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after its Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel.
Militants killed more than 1,000 people and kidnapped around 250 others back into Gaza.
