IDF Tries to ensure aid gets to the Gazan citizens

“The IDF’s mission in the Rafah crossing revolves around cleansing the area from Hamas’s terror activity and to make sure that the goods brought into the Gaza Strip will make it to Gazan citizens, rather than Hamas terrorists,” stated a military source.

 In the same context, Hamas has been repeatedly firing rockets aimed at the Kerem Shalom crossing and its surroundings from the Rafah crossing area, exploiting these areas to threaten aid convoys trying to reach the citizens of Gaza.

 Despite ruling the Gaza Strip de facto since the last round of elections and its bloody coup more than two decades ago, over the years, Hamas officials have denied responsibility for their constituency in Gaza.

 In October, Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouk implied that the terrorist group’s tunnel network was only meant to protect Hamas members, while the rest of Gaza’s citizens fall under the jurisdiction of UNRWA or Israel. Likewise, several Hamas leaders escaped the Gaza Strip to the safety of their patrons in Doha or elsewhere a few days before the October 7 massacre to avoid facing Israeli retaliation.