Iceland and Norway demand urgent Gaza ceasefire amid Israel’s Rafah offensive

Iceland on Tuesday urged Israel to halt military operations in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, after Tel Aviv announced that it will continue its offensive despite Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire, Anadolu has reported.

“A large-scale attack would cause immeasurable suffering,” said Foreign Minister Thordis Kolbrun Reykfjord Gylfadottir. “We call on Hamas and Israel to urgently agree to and implement a sustainable ceasefire, ensure humanitarian aid and the release of hostages. Civilian suffering must stop.”

Earlier in the day, Norway also called for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza, warning against an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide’s comments came after Tel Aviv claimed earlier that its forces have “operational control” of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing, after advancing overnight as Israeli warplanes pounded Palestinian homes. Israel said earlier it would continue with its military assault in Rafah despite Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire deal proposed by Qatar and Egypt.

“Every attack in Gaza is a betrayal of Palestinian women and children,”

Eide told Anadolu.

“A ceasefire means the difference between life and death for many people on both sides of the conflict. The short-term goal of such an agreement is to bring an end to the immense suffering in Gaza.”

The whole world is watching and expects both parties to demonstrate willingness to reach an agreement, he added. “Gaza is a man-made disaster. Words cannot describe the suffering and hardship its 2.3 million inhabitants have endured over the past seven months.”

On Monday, Israeli forces asked people to leave parts of Rafah, making it clear that the occupation government was proceeding with its brutal assault and ground offensive on the city where more than a million Palestinians sought refuge after being forced to flee from other parts of the besieged enclave.

The city’s current population is estimated to be around 1.5 million, and it is unclear where they will seek refuge from Israel’s military offensive. NGOs have warned that the people of Rafah, as well as those who have been displaced from other parts of Gaza, have no other place to go if Israel bombs the city. Despite warnings from Israel’s allies, including the US, Tel Aviv insists that an attack on Rafah will take place.

The top Norwegian diplomat also urged the international community, as well as the Israeli and Palestinian authorities, to engage in political dialogue, including moving forward with the work for a Palestinian state. He added that having plans for what happens next is also “crucial” for the ongoing ceasefire negotiations and humanitarian aid.

Israel launched its offensive ostensibly to destroy the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, after its October attack on southern Israel. The occupation state stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which it denies. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza. South Africa, which took the apartheid state to the ICJ, has since claimed that Israel is ignoring the court’s ruling.

Although around 1,200 Israelis were killed on that October day, many were actually killed by Israel Defence Forces tanks and helicopters, not Hamas fighters, according to Israeli media. Just over 250 hostages were taken back to Gaza.

The occupation state’s subsequent military offensive has to-date killed 35,000 Palestinians, most of them children and women, and wounded 70,000 more. An estimated 8,000 Palestinians are missing, presumed dead, under the rubble of their homes destroyed by Israel.

More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lie in ruins, pushing 85 per cent of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

READ: Oxfam: Israel invasion of Rafah would be ‘catastrophic’