Israel’s call for the evacuation of Rafah has sparked sharp criticism. EU foreign policy chief Borrell called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to refrain from an offensive. The federal government warns of an “imminent catastrophe”.
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 famine,” wrote EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on the X platform, formerly Twitter. “This is unacceptable.”
Israel must forego a ground offensive. The EU, together with the international community, is called upon to act to prevent such a scenario.
Biden wants to talk to Netanyahu
After the Israeli army’s evacuation call, US President Joe Biden wants to speak on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today. This was announced by a spokesman for the White House National Security Council. He emphasized that the US government had already “made clear” its views on the Israeli army’s planned ground offensive in Rafah in the past.
The USA and other Western allies had heavily criticized the plans for the offensive in recent months. Following the evacuation call, the Palestinian presidency appealed to the US government to intervene “immediately” to prevent a “massacre” in Rafah, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
100,000 people are expected to leave Rafah
After months of announcements, Israel has begun crucial preparations for military operations in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The military called on around 100,000 residents of the eastern part of the city on the border with Egypt to go to the Al-Mawasi camp, a few kilometers north. Aid in the expanded “humanitarian zones” has been expanded. Field hospitals, tents, food and water are available.
The army said it was informing residents through posters, text messages, calls and media appeals in Arabic. The call was made as part of a “limited” operation to destroy the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, a military spokesman said.
According to the Palestinian Civil Defense, the Israeli army increased its air strikes in East Rafah following the evacuation call. Two neighborhoods there were bombed, a civil defense spokesman told the AFP news agency.
A senior Hamas official criticized Israel’s move. This is a “dangerous escalation that will have consequences,” it said. A possible Israeli military operation in Rafah would endanger ceasefire negotiations.
Federal Government: “Disaster with announcement”
The federal government once again warned urgently about the consequences of a major military operation in 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 consequences.”
The French Foreign Ministry also stressed its “firm opposition” to a ground offensive in Rafah. “France also recalls that the forced relocation of a civilian population constitutes a war crime within the meaning of international law,” the ministry said. The Hamas hostages must be released immediately and a lasting ceasefire must provide the protection the civilian population needs, it said.
Jordan also warned again of a military offensive after the Israeli evacuation call. “Another massacre of the Palestinians is imminent,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi said on Platform X. 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.
UNICEF: Catastrophic consequences for children
The UN children’s fund UNICEF also sounded the alarm. An impending Israeli ground offensive in Rafah would have “catastrophic consequences” for around 600,000 refugee children. The aid organization warned that the girls and boys, who were already in need, would have nowhere to go in the event of a military operation. Evacuation corridors may be mined or littered with unexploded ordnance. She said shelter and assistance for children would likely be limited in areas eligible for relocation.
Hundreds of thousands of children in Rafah are injured, sick, malnourished, traumatized or living with a disability. UNICEF emphasized that they should not be forcibly relocated. Boys and girls are particularly affected by the devastating effects of the seven-month war in the Gaza Strip. According to the latest estimates from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, more than 14,000 children have already been killed.
1.2 million people in Rafah
In Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, around 1.2 million people have sought refuge from the fighting between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas. The Israeli government describes the city as the last remaining Hamas stronghold in the coastal strip. Four battalions of the terrorist organization are said to be active there.
It is unclear whether the Israeli army will move into the areas mentioned to extract civilians or whether there will just be the calls. It is also unclear whether Hamas is preventing people from leaving Rafah.
Gallant: Hamas is not interested in the hostage deal
Israel has been announcing a ground offensive in Rafah for months to destroy Hamas structures that remain there. Just on Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused Hamas of not being seriously interested in an agreement with Israel. The minister warned of a major operation in Rafah in the “very near future.”
In a statement, Gallant also made a connection to the slow negotiations over the release of the hostages. The current step is necessary because Hamas – which still has dozens of Israeli hostages in its power – is not prepared to respond to proposals for a ceasefire and the release of those abducted.
Julio Segador, ARD Tel Aviv, tagesschau, May 6, 2024 7:54 a.m