World on edge as Netanyahu orders invasion of Rafah
Global condemnation and concern mount as Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has ordered the military to proceed with the invasion of Rafah even as Hamas accepted a Qatari-Egyptian brokered ceasefire proposal.
Netanyahu brushed off urgent warnings from the international community and Israel’s close allies and ordered the military to invade the southern city overnight, right after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas informed Qatari and Egyptian mediators that the group accepted their proposal for a ceasefire.
On Tuesday, the regime’s military said it had sent tanks into Rafah and established control over the Gaza side of the border crossing with Egypt.
Rafah is home to about 1.4 million displaced Palestinians, who have taken refuge in the border town and its surroundings after they fled their hometowns elsewhere in the territory to escape the regime’s onslaught and now face another move.
UN agencies and aid groups have already warned of devastating consequences of any military assault on the cramped border city.
UN chief calls for end to Gaza ‘tragedy’
In his speech on Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Guterres urged Israel’s allies to press Netanyahu to stop the war on the besieged territory.
“I appeal to all those with influence over Israel to do everything in their power to help avert even more tragedy.”
Guterres said, “It is time for the parties to seize the opportunity and secure a deal for the sake of their own people.”
UN access to Rafah crossing ‘denied’ by Israel
In the meantime, the United Nations said the regime’s authorities have denied access to the Rafah crossing.
“We currently do not have any physical presence at the Rafah crossing as our access … has been denied,” said Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA.
Rafah border closure means ‘people will die’
Mustafa Barghouti, the secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, said Israel’s closure of the Rafah border crossing will have a “terrible impact” on the people of Gaza.
He said the move will deplete already scarce humanitarian aid supplies and cut off the only exit point for thousands of sick and wounded Palestinians.
“People will die,” Barghouti said. “Die because of these Israeli measures, in addition of course to the possible massacre that could take place if Israel continues its military operation in Rafah.”
“It’s a terrible disaster,” he told Al Jazeera. “This all happens at a time when Hamas declares it has accepted the ceasefire agreement.”
