‘Blatant violation of international law’: Israel’s planned invasion of Rafah sparks fury
The Israeli regime’s planned invasion of the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah has drawn widespread condemnations from international organizations around the world as well as political figures in the West.
The condemnations poured in after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the regime’s military on Friday to “prepare to operate” in and evacuate civilians from Rafah ahead of a planned ground offensive against the densely-populated city.
Rights groups have already warned against such a move, given the scale of devastation across the Gaza Strip as a result of the months-long Israeli aggression and the huge number of people trapped in the besieged area.
Rafah, housing more than 1.2 million Palestinians, is the last major population center in the Gaza Strip that Israeli troops have yet to invade and also the main point of entry for desperately-needed relief supplies.
‘Blatant violation of international law’
Jasem Albudaiwi, the secretary general of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), said in a statement on Saturday that Israel’s “declared intentions” to invade Rafah would be a “blatant violation of international law and humanitarian conventions.”
Albudaiwi added that the planned invasion “threatens to escalate violence, destabilize the region’s security and stability, and lead to further deterioration and suffering for the Palestinian people.”
The GCC’s chief called on the international community to “confront these Israeli plans with a spirit of unity and shared responsibility,” and with a “deep commitment to the principles of peace, justice, and human dignity.”
‘1.4 million Palestinians in Rafah facing starvation’
European Union foreign policy Chief Josep Borrell censured Israel’s planned invasion of Rafah and said there are currently 1.4 million Palestinians in the southern city “without a safe place to go, facing starvation.”
“Reports of an Israeli military offensive on Rafah are alarming,” Borrell said in a post on his X social media account.
“It would have catastrophic consequences worsening the already dire humanitarian situation & the unbearable civilian toll.”
In another post on Saturday, Borrell echoed the warning by several EU member states that an Israeli offensive on Rafah would lead to an “unspeakable humanitarian catastrophe.”
The top EU diplomat stressed that resuming negotiations to free prisoners and suspend hostilities is the “only way to avert a bloodshed.”
Rafah assault entails ‘grave violations’ of intl. law
Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin condemned Israel’s planned assault on Rafah, warning that the move would entail “grave violations of international humanitarian law.”
“It is absolutely clear that a military operation in Rafah, which has effectively now become one of the largest and most overcrowded refugee camps in the world, would entail grave violations of international humanitarian law,” Martin said in a statement.
“It is also absolutely clear that ordering the evacuation of 1.5 million people, who have nowhere safe to go, risks mass forced displacement,” he added.
“This cannot be allowed to happen. All countries, including all EU Member States, must demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. There can be no further equivocation.”
Martin also called on Palestinian resistance movement Hamas to “immediately and unconditionally” release Israeli prisoners in Gaza, and criticized the decision of some countries to freeze funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees over baseless allegations.
Israel’s end game ‘permanent destruction’ of Gaza
Clare Daly, the Irish member of the European Parliament, called for an emergency conference of the EU Council to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and prevent the “murderous onslaught” facing one million Palestinians in Rafah.
Daly said it has been clear since the start of the war that Israel’s “end game was the permanent destruction of the Gaza Strip,” and it must be restrained by the European community.
“Right now a million defenseless and starving people with nowhere to go are facing Israel’s murderous onslaught,” she said in a post on X.
“It is already too late for so much of Gaza, and for so many lives that are never coming back, but it is not too late to STOP THE KILLING and to save lives.”
