Israel's plan to attack Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip raises concern

AFP / Said Khatib

Israel's plan to attack Rafah, the last refuge for those displaced by the war in the Gaza Strip, raises concern, adding that this will have disastrous repercussions, according to European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

Borrell wrote on the X platform that "information about an Israeli military attack on Rafah raises concerns," adding that "this matter will have catastrophic repercussions, exacerbating the already catastrophic humanitarian situation, in addition to unbearable losses among civilians."

He added, "1.4 million Palestinians are currently in Rafah, without a safe place to go, facing hunger."

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his army to prepare a "plan to evacuate" civilians from Rafah, with the United States and the United Nations fearing a possible attack on this city, the last refuge for those displaced from the war in the Gaza Strip.

More than four months after the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, attention is turning to Rafah, near the border with Egypt, which houses more than a million displaced people who fled the destruction and battles in the rest of the besieged areas of the Strip.

More from International News

  • UN warns funding cuts threaten vital aid

    The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) have sounded the alarm over severe funding shortfalls that are hindering life-saving humanitarian aid in countries including Nigeria, Burundi, and Colombia.

  • Multiple dead in Vancouver after vehicle plows into street festival

    A number of people were killed and multiple others were injured in Vancouver after a driver drove into a crowd at a Filipino street festival in the western Canadian city, police said on Saturday.

  • Rome and the world bid farewell to Pope Francis

    Presidents, royalty and simple mourners bade farewell to Pope Francis on Saturday at a solemn funeral ceremony, where a cardinal appealed for the pontiff's legacy of caring for migrants, the downtrodden and the environment to be kept alive.

  • Trump, Zelenskyy meet in Vatican basilica to seek Ukraine peace

    US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis, met one-on-one in a marble-lined Vatican basilica on Saturday to try to revive faltering efforts to end Russia's war with Ukraine.

Coming Up