ISMAILIA: Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt, its only one that bypasses Israel, was hit by an Israeli air strike on Tuesday for the third time in 24 hours.

Witnesses said the strike hit the no-man’s land between the Egyptian and Palestinian gates, damaging the hall on the Palestinian side.

The Israeli military said it could “neither confirm nor deny” any strike on the crossing “at this point”.

Egyptian group Sinai for Human Rights said the strike had prompted the closure of the crossing, but there was no immediate confirmation from either side.

It was the third time the crossing had been hit since Israel launched a ferocious bombardment of Gaza in response to Saturday’s raid. The previous strike on Monday had briefly halted passage through the crossing, a security source and witnesses said.

Shells from Syria

Israeli troops fired artillery and mortar shells toward Syria on Tuesday after a number of shells launched from its northern neighbour landed in open areas on Israeli territory.

A source in southern Syria said a Palestinian faction had fired three rockets toward Israel.

The development raises fears the violence could lead to a wider war, as Israel trades cross-border salvoes with Lebanon’s Hezbollah and battles Hamas in Gaza.

Meanwhile, a salvo of rockets was fired on Tuesday from southern Lebanon towards Israel, three security sources said. One of them said the bombardment was carried out by Palestinian factions. A second source said Israeli shelling was hitting the southern area from which the rockets were launched.

The Israeli military said it was responding with artillery fire to launches coming from Lebanese territory.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2023