Egypt warns of ‘dire consequences’ from Israel ground offensive on Rafah

Egypt yesterday warned of the “dire consequences” from Israel’s planned ground offensive in Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip, Anadolu news agency reported.

The Israeli army plans to launch a ground offensive in Rafah, home to more than one million Palestinians who were forced to flee their homes from across Gaza as a result of Tel Aviv’s genocidal bombing campaign. Israel says the offensive is  needed to defeat what it calls the remaining “Hamas battalions”. The planned offensive has triggered concerns of a humanitarian catastrophe in the city.

“Targeting Rafah, along with Israel’s continued policy of obstructing access to humanitarian aid, is an actual contribution to implementing the policy of displacing the Palestinian people and liquidating their cause,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Egypt said it rejects Israeli official statements about the Rafah offensive, warning that the planned onslaught “will have dire consequences, particularly in light of the risks of worsening the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip.”

It called for uniting all international and regional efforts to prevent the planned attack on Rafah, which now shelters around 1.4 million displaced Palestinians who consider it the last safe area in Gaza.

Egypt affirmed that it “will continue its contacts and movements with various parties, in order to reach an immediate ceasefire, enforce the truce, and exchange prisoners and detainees.”

Israel launched a deadly bombing campaign in Rafah last night, without evacuating civilians from the area.

Human rights organisations and governments have called on Israel not to attack Rafah as civilians have nowhere to go to seek safety, warning that “a bloodbath” will ensue.

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