Ahmad 
On Tuesday, Egypt closed the Rafah crossing with concrete blocks and imposed a curfew around it, coinciding with Israel’s storming and control of the crossing from the Palestinian side.
The latest Egyptian measures are aimed at preventing the flow of residents fleeing Israeli bombardment in Rafah towards Egyptian territory.
The control of the crossing by Israel and its hoisting of the Israeli flag provoked strong reactions from the Egyptian side, with the Egyptian parliament on Tuesday condemning the actions.
In a statement, the President of the Council, Dr. Hanafi Jebali, held the Israeli Government fully responsible for any escalation that undermines negotiations aimed at achieving a peaceful solution.
Jabali described the Israeli move as a “humanitarian nightmare,” stressing that the parliament is following with interest the developments of the situation over the past twenty-four hours, which witnessed divergent paths.
These actions come at a time when Israeli forces are intensifying their assault on the city, launching intensive raids on the eastern neighborhoods since the morning.
Israel had claimed through the Israel Broadcasting Corporation that Cairo had expressed its approval of the Israeli operations, and the Egyptian side was informed of the operation before it was launched by the Israeli defense minister.
The Israeli military operation on Rafah coincided with Hamas’ announcement of its approval of the ceasefire proposal in the Gaza Strip submitted by Egypt and Qatar.
The private sector’s share of Egyptian banks’ loans declined to 46.2%