Iran Press/ West Asia: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday asked the Israeli army to remobilize reserve soldiers in preparation for a ground offensive in the city of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, the Israeli media reported.
According to Channel 13, Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi said: “The army will be able to handle any mission, but there are political aspects that must be addressed first.”
A senior Israeli official, who preferred not to be named, told the channel: “The operation in Rafah is approaching.”The Palestinians have sought refuge in Rafah as Israel pounded the rest of the enclave following the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion. The bombardment has killed more than 28,000 people, besides causing mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.The UK Foreign Minister David Cameron on Saturday said he is "deeply concerned” about the prospect of an Israeli military offensive in Rafah, as “over half of Gaza’s population are sheltering in the area."
"The priority must be an immediate pause in the fighting to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire," Cameron said on X.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also warns that a potential Israeli operation in Rafah would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe.
“I echo the warning by several EU member states that an Israeli offensive on Rafah would lead to an unspeakable humanitarian catastrophe and grave tensions with Egypt,” he wrote on X. “Resuming negotiations to free hostages and suspend hostilities is the only way to avert a bloodshed.”Germany's Foreign Minister also believes an Israeli attack on Rafah in Gaza would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe.
“The plight in Rafah is already incredible. 1.3 million people are seeking protection from the fighting in a very small area. An offensive by the Israeli army on Rafah would be a humanitarian catastrophe in the making. The people in Gaza cannot disappear into thin air,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Bearbock said on X.
“Israel must defend itself against Hamas terror, but at the same time alleviate the suffering of the civilian population as much as possible,” she stressed.Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also condemned on the Israeli army's plans to attack Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry “expresses its deep concern about the Israeli occupation forces' plans to attack the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip after forcibly deporting its civilians.”
It reiterated Kuwait's stance that rejects “aggressive practices and displacement schemes against the Palestinian people.”
It also reaffirmed its position that urges “the international community and the Security Council to fulfill their responsibilities in protecting innocent Palestinian civilians.”
The agency encouraged “the activation of international accountability mechanisms to put an end to the ongoing Israeli violations of international law, humanitarian law, and legitimate international resolutions.”
Qatari “strongly condemned the Israeli threats to invade Rafah.”
Doha warned of “a humanitarian catastrophe in the city, which has become the last refuge for hundreds of thousands of displaced people inside the besieged enclave.”
It asked “the United Nations Security Council to urgently act to prevent the Israeli occupation forces from invading Rafah and committing genocide in the city.”
Qatar reiterated its “firm rejection of attempts to forcibly displace the Palestinian people from Gaza.”
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its “serious concern about the Israeli army's plans and preparations to launch a military operation in the densely populated area of Rafah, which is filled with displaced Palestinians.”
The UAE warned of “the serious humanitarian repercussions that Israeli military operations in Rafah may cause.”
It emphasized that such actions “threaten to cause further innocent fatalities and exacerbate the humanitarian disaster in the region.”
The UAE reiterated “its strong condemnation of any forced deportation of the Palestinian people and any practices that violate international legitimacy, international law, and humanitarian law.”
It called on “the international community to exert all efforts, without delay, to achieve an immediate ceasefire to avoid further escalation of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.”
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