The Israeli army on Tuesday said that its forces have seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
In a statement, the Israeli army said its 401st armored brigade took "operational control" of the Rafah crossing from the Palestinian side.
Israeli forces are conducting a "sweep operation" in the areas of eastern Rafah it seized, it added, claiming to kill 20 Palestinian gunmen.
The spokesman of the Palestinian border crossing authority confirmed earlier that the border was closed from the Palestinian side.
Video footage shared by Israeli media outlets, including the Times of Israel, showed an Israeli tank at the Rafah crossing.
Following the Palestinian Hamas group announcement of accepting a Qatari-Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza, Israel’s war cabinet decided to push ahead with an operation in Rafah in order to apply what it said "military pressure on Hamas with the goal of making progress on freeing the hostages and the other war aims.”
