Israeli Warplanes Pound Rafah Border Crossing

Hundreds Were Waiting to Go Into Egypt

In a move which could’ve caused a much larger civilian toll than it ultimately did, Israeli warplanes attacked the Rafah Border Crossing today, hitting a departure hall full of hundreds of civilians trying to cross into Egypt. Fortunately, the attacks did not collapse the hall.

Israel offered no explanation for the attack, which wounded only a handful of civilians, and the crossing has continued to function in spite of the damage done by the airstrikes.

The current death toll in the Israeli war on Gaza stands at 2,128 Gazans killed, overwhelmingly civilians and over 500 of them children. On the Israeli side, 68 were killed, 64 of them Israeli soldiers.

Though there was talk today of a new ceasefire, so far Israel has not made any decision on whether or not to accept the proposal, and seems to be continuing its attacks without a serious consideration of what happens next.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.