Middle East war: Israel’s Rafah offensive is unanimously condemned

Israel’s military has begun evacuating the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The army called on residents of the eastern part of the city to go to the al-Mawasi camp on the Mediterranean, a few kilometers north. An estimated 100,000 people are affected.

Rafah: last remaining Hamas stronghold

In Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, around 1.2 million people have sought refuge from the fighting between Israel and the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas. The Israeli government describes the city as the last remaining stronghold of Hamas.

A Palestinian Red Crescent official in eastern Rafah said the zone affected by the evacuation was home to around 250,000 people, many of whom had already arrived in Rafah from other parts of the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the Islamist Hamas fired rockets at the Israeli border crossing at Kerem Shalom, killing four Israeli soldiers. Kerem Shalom is the main border crossing for the delivery of aid from Israel to the Gaza Strip.

The impending offensive on the border Egypt is met with harsh criticism not only in the Arab world but also in the West:

Foreign Office warns of humanitarian catastrophe in Rafah

The federal government reiterates warnings about the consequences of a major military operation by the Israeli armed forces in the border town of Rafah. There were more than a million people in the area, said a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office in Berlin. She demanded: “These people need protection. They of course need humanitarian support. And the federal government and the Foreign Minister have already said repeatedly in the past that a large-scale ground offensive on Rafah would be a humanitarian catastrophe, and a humanitarian catastrophe with an announcement.

EU condemns call to evacuate Rafah

The EU has condemned the evacuation ordered by Israel of the eastern part of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The army’s call gives rise to “fears of the worst: more war and hunger,” wrote EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on the online service X. “This is unacceptable. Israel must forego a ground offensive,” he added. The EU must work together with the international community to “prevent such a scenario”.

Hamas warns of catastrophic consequences

The Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas has sharply criticized the start of Israel’s evacuation of the town of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip near the Egyptian border before a military operation. Israel is thereby damaging all efforts to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza war, said Mahmoud Merdawi, a senior Hamas member. The move will have a negative impact on indirect negotiations and have a “catastrophic impact” on the local population, he said. An Israeli military operation in Rafah would not increase the pressure on Hamas. Israel will not succeed in achieving its war goals.

Jordan: Rafah military offensive “an indelible blot”

Jordan has again warned of an expected military offensive following the Israeli evacuation call in the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. “Another massacre of the Palestinians is imminent,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al Safadi said on X, formerly Twitter. Everyone must act now to prevent such a scenario. It would be an “indelible stain” on the international community if military action were to take place in Rafah.

France’s Foreign Ministry emphasizes resistance to Rafah offensive

The French Foreign Ministry has announced its “firm opposition” to a ground offensive planned by Israel in the border town of Rafah. “France also recalls that the forced relocation of a civilian population constitutes a war crime within the meaning of international law,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The Hamas hostages must be released immediately and a lasting ceasefire must provide the protection the civilian population needs, it said. French President Emmanuel Macron had already made similar statements on Sunday.