France is asking Israel to end “without delay” its military operation in Rafah, which threatens to create a “catastrophic situation” for the people of the Gaza Strip, its foreign ministry said in a statement released on Friday night at X. Saturday.
• Read more: Washington observes the Israeli operation in Rafah with “concern” but does not consider it “major”.
• Read more: Gaza: More than 100,000 people have fled Rafah, according to the UN
• Read more: Humanitarian aid in Gaza “completely paralyzed”
“We call on the Israeli authorities to cease this military operation without delay and return to the path of negotiations, the only possible path to the immediate release of the hostages and a lasting ceasefire,” the Quai d’Orsay pointed out. About Rafa’s situation.
“Such a move threatens to create a catastrophic situation for the citizens of Gaza, who have already been displaced on several occasions,” the press release from French diplomacy continued.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considers an operation necessary to “defeat” Hamas in Rafah, a city in the south of the Gaza Strip, where, according to him, the last battalions of the Islamist movement are entrenched, but there are 1.4 people. Millions of Palestinians have been displaced by violence.
Defying international warnings, the Israeli army has been carrying out incursions into eastern Rafah since Tuesday, blocking a key gateway for humanitarian aid convoys and controlling a border crossing with Egypt.
The army said on Friday it was continuing a “precision counter-terrorism operation” in parts of eastern Rafah and had “eradicated terrorist cells”.
White House spokesman John Kirby said Friday that the United States is “observing with concern” the military operation in Rafah but does not consider it “major.”
“France calls on Israel to immediately reopen the Rafah crossing point to Egypt, which is essential to allow civilians to access humanitarian aid and to allow the most vulnerable people to leave the Gaza Strip,” French diplomacy pointed out overnight.
