European chief diplomat Josep Borell says 1.4 million Palestinians in southern Gaza city are ‘without safe place to go, facing starvation’Israel’s plans for a military offensive on Rafah in the Gaza Strip are “alarming”, the EU’s foreign policy chief said on Friday.Josep Borell said on social media platform X that “1.4 million Palestinians are currently in Rafah without safe place to go, facing starvation”, Agence France-Presse reports.It would have catastrophic consequences worsening the already dire humanitarian situation and the unbearable civilian toll.The head of the Palestinian Authority said Israel’s escalation in Rafah aimed to push Palestinians from their land. The office of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said he held the Israeli and US governments responsible for any effects of the expected invasion and that Israel’s actions threatened regional peace and security.Civilians in Gaza were at “grave risk of genocide” in response to Israel ordering people in Rafah to evacuate, said Amnesty International’s secretary general, Agnes Callamard.The Norwegian Refugee Council’s secretary general warned of a “bloodbath” if Israeli operations expanded to Rafah. “No war can be allowed in a gigantic refugee camp,” Jan Egeland said. Aid workers said an Israeli advance into the area could cause mass deaths among those trapped there, with humanitarian aid in danger of collapse.The Palestine Red Crescent Society said Israeli forces had raided the society’s al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, and were searching it. “We’re finding it difficult to communicate with our crews inside the hospital,” the society said on Friday. The Israeli military did not immediately comment. Continue reading…
Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/feb/10/middle-east-crisis-israel-gaza-war-hamas-rafah-latest-news
Author : Amy Sedghi
Publish date : 2024-02-10 08:06:04
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Middle East crisis live: Israel warned plan for Rafah offensive would be ‘catastrophic’
