Israeli forces announced on Tuesday that they had seized control of the Rafah border crossing, a vital passageway for transporting aid into Gaza, prompting intense condemnation from international aid groups warning that the humanitarian crisis would be significantly exacerbated.

The incursion into Rafah comes a day after White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said that President Biden “doesn’t want to see operations in Rafah that put at greater risk the more than a million people that are seeking refuge there,” On Sunday, Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Programme, said on NBC’s Meet the Press that the “full-blown famine” in Gaza’s north was quickly “moving its way south.”

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been staunch about plans to invade Rafah, has openly defied these warnings. He said last week that the incursion would occur “with or without a deal” to free the hostages or enact a ceasefire, […]