Ireland warns of disastrous consequences of Israel control of the Rafah Crossing

Ireland’s Foreign Minister, Michael Martin, warned on Tuesday of the “disastrous consequences” of Israel’s control of the Rafah border Crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

Martin said in a post on X, “Completely unacceptable that Israel has taken over Rafah crossing.”

“Gaza in the grip of famine & the crossing is now closed to vital humanitarian aid,” he added.

Martin also noted that “An invasion of Rafah will result in disastrous consequences. An immediate ceasefire & release of hostages is urgently needed.”

Since Monday, the Israeli army has been carrying out what it claimed was a “limited-scale” operation in Rafah and issued warnings to 100,000 Palestinians to forcibly evacuate the eastern part of the city and head to the non-residential Al-Mawasi area, south-west of the Strip.

On Tuesday, the army announced control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah land crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, by invading the Philadelphi (Salah Al-Din) border axis for the first time since its withdrawal from Gaza in 2005.

Along with Israel taking control of the Crossing, which is the main corridor for humanitarian aid, it closed the Crossing from both directions, which threatens to worsen the disastrous conditions, especially since food stocks in Gaza only cover one to four days, according to the UN.

READ: Israel army takes Philadelphi Corridor on Egypt-Gaza border for 1st time since 2005