The Guardian reports that continued exchange of fire between the IDF and Hamas near the Rafah crossing with Egypt has led to the hasty evacuation of extremely ill and injured patients and staff from al-Najjar Hospital, one of the few health facilities in Rafah. Israeli strikes overnight have resulted in grievously injured persons being transported via hand-pulled carts or donkey carts to the overwhelmed Kuwaiti Hospital. Apart from the scarcity of food, there is an acute shortage of anesthetics, medicine and fuel to run hospital equipment. The doctors at Najjar hospital themselves do not know where they can seek refuge. To wit, www.theguardian.com/…
Despite Israeli claims that it has now opened the crossings for aid trucks, the UN reports that fuel and food shipments are negligible. For 48 hours all aid flows were severed due to the Israeli action to take over the Rafah crossing as reported by the WAPO www.washingtonpost.com/…
The Guardian’s Julian Borger also reports that “US officials are making clear today that the hold put on a delivery of US-made bombs last week would not be a one-off if Israel presses ahead with an offensive on Rafah, but would be the start of a major pivot in the US-Israel relationship.”
We shall see if this US threat has teeth as more evidence of atrocity in Rafah trickles in.