Germany, Saudi Arabia and organizations of human rights joined the warnings of USA and the European Union (EU) on “humanitarian catastrophe” which would trigger a ground offensive Israel in Rafahlast refuge for Palestinians displaced by the war against the Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Several witnesses reported in the early hours of Saturday bombings in the surroundings of that town, in the south of the enclave and where 1.3 million Palestinians live, that is, more than half of the total population of the Gaza Strip. . The vast majority are refugees who fled fighting in other areas of the territory.
“Forcing more than a million displaced Palestinians in Rafah to evacuate again [la ciudad] without finding a safe place to go would be illegal and would have catastrophic consequences,” said Nadia Hardman, a specialist in the rights of migrants and refugees at the NGO Human Rights Watch.
The head of German diplomacy, Annalena Baerbock, stated on the social network X that an offensive in Rafah would trigger an “anticipated humanitarian catastrophe.”
“Israel must defend itself from the terror of Hamas, but at the same time alleviate the suffering of the civilian population as much as possible. That is why another ceasefire is necessary, also to finally free the hostages. Next week I will speak again in Israel on how to achieve it,” he anticipated.
“Saudi Arabia warns of the very dangerous repercussions of attacking the city of Rafah (…) the last refuge of hundreds of thousands of civilians forced to move due to brutal Israeli aggression,” said a statement from the kingdom’s Foreign Ministry.
The country called for an “urgent” meeting of the UN Security Council “to prevent Israel from causing an imminent humanitarian catastrophe,”
The United Nations has also expressed its fear for civilians in Rafah on several occasions and the United States warned that it would not support an operation “without planning and without reflection” regarding the fate of civilians.
In an unusual criticism of Israel since the war began just over four months ago, US President Joe Biden judged the “response in the Gaza Strip” to the October 7 attack “excessive.”
“The reports about an Israeli military offensive in Rafah are alarming. It would have catastrophic consequences that would worsen the already serious humanitarian situation and the unbearable number of civilian victims,” warned the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell.
In the midst of all these warnings, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday asked the military to develop a “combined plan” for the “evacuation” of civilians from Rafah and the “destruction” of Hamas in that city.
“It is impossible to achieve the objective of the war without eliminating Hamas and leaving four Hama battalions in Rafah,” the leader said. To do this, it is necessary for “civilians to evacuate combat zones,” he added.
Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, warned in a statement today of the risk of “a catastrophe and a massacre that could lead to tens of thousands of martyrs and injuries.”
In addition, the group stated that it would hold “the US administration, the international community and the Israeli occupation” responsible for the consequences, reported the AFP news agency.
Much of the fighting is now concentrated in Khan Yunis, also in the south of the territory.
In this context, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported today that at least two people were killed and five others were injured, including a nurse, by shots fired at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis. Yesterday, the Palestinian Red Crescent announced the assault on another hospital in the town, Al Amal.
The offensive against Hamas is in response to the October 7 attacks in Israeli territory, in which some 1,200 people died and around 240 were kidnapped, including twenty Argentine nationals.
Since then, just over 28,000 people have died in Gaza and some 67,600 have been injured as a result of the Israeli counterattack on practically the entire enclave, according to today’s report from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
On the diplomatic front, a “new cycle of negotiations”, sponsored by Egypt and Qatar, and with the participation of Hamas, began on Thursday in Cairo with the aim of obtaining “calm in the Gaza Strip” and an exchange of hostages. into the hands of the Islamist movement by Palestinian prisoners in Israel, indicated a senior Egyptian official.
The delegation of the Palestinian Islamist movement left the city yesterday after “good and positive talks” with mediators, a source from the group said.
A week-long truce at the end of November allowed a hundred hostages to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners. It is estimated that some 132 people captured on October 7 are still in Gaza, and that 29 of them have died.
According to the Axios portal, the head of the CIA will travel to Egypt next week to try to achieve a new pause in the fighting and the release of hostages.
The war in Gaza also exacerbated tensions in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, where Iranian-backed groups have launched attacks in support of Hamas, drawing retaliation from Israel and the United States and its allies.
Israel carried out bombings in the last few hours around the Syrian capital, Damascus, according to the official Sana agency, which reported “material” damage. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), an NGO that has people in the territory, stated that three people were killed in that attack.
Source: Ambito
