RAFAH (GAZA STRIP): Israeli airstrikes killed at least 31 Palestinians – a third of them children – in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Saturday, hours after Israel’s prime minister said he asked the military to plan for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people there ahead of a ground invasion. Benjamin Netanyahu did not provide details or a timeline, but the announcement set off widespread panic. More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are packed into Rafah, many after being uprooted by Israeli evacuation orders that now cover two-thirds of Gaza’s territory. It’s not clear where they could run next.
Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that Israel’s planned army operation in overcrowded Rafah would cause a “humanitarian catastrophe” and called for the United Nations Security Council to intervene. The kingdom “warned of the extremely dangerous repercussions of storming and targeting” Rafah and affirmed its “categorical rejection and strong condemnation of their forced deportation”, in a foreign ministry statement carried by state media.
Israel says that Rafah, which borders Egypt, is the last remaining stronghold for the Hamas militant group in Gaza after more than four months of war sparked by the October 7 Hamas attack.
In Egypt’s first public response to Netanyahu’s announcement, foreign minister Sameh Shoukry warned that any Israeli ground offensive on Rafah would have “disastrous consequences,” and asserted that Israel aims to eventually force the Palestinians out of their land.
Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that Israel’s planned army operation in overcrowded Rafah would cause a “humanitarian catastrophe” and called for the United Nations Security Council to intervene. The kingdom “warned of the extremely dangerous repercussions of storming and targeting” Rafah and affirmed its “categorical rejection and strong condemnation of their forced deportation”, in a foreign ministry statement carried by state media.
Israel says that Rafah, which borders Egypt, is the last remaining stronghold for the Hamas militant group in Gaza after more than four months of war sparked by the October 7 Hamas attack.
In Egypt’s first public response to Netanyahu’s announcement, foreign minister Sameh Shoukry warned that any Israeli ground offensive on Rafah would have “disastrous consequences,” and asserted that Israel aims to eventually force the Palestinians out of their land.
#Israeli #Airstrikes #Kill #Rafah #Saudi #Arabia #Warns #Humanitarian #Catastrophe #World #News
