CAPITALS May 08. 2024 (Saba) - Arab, international and regional positions condemning the barbaric Zionist attack on Rafah, and warning of the worsening of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, which has been suffering an unprecedented crisis due to the Zionist aggression and siege on the Gaza Strip for more than seven months.
The rapid Zionist military developments on the ground come hours before new talks are supposed to be held in Cairo to try to conclude a truce agreement in which representatives of the intermediary countries "America, Qatar and Egypt" will participate, in addition to two Zionist delegations and another from Hamas.
The Zionist enemy army had announced on Tuesday morning that it had taken full control of the Rafah crossing, and is conducting extensive combing operations in the area, after a night of heavy shelling, targeting the vicinity of the crossing and areas east of the city crowded with displaced people, despite the efforts of mediators to reach a truce.
A spokesman for the Zionist enemy government justified the attack by saying: "Israel's main goal is to destroy Hamas." The way to end the conflict is for Hamas to lay down its arms and return the hostages.
Palestinians.. The Palestinian Authority called on America to intervene immediately to prevent the Zionist enemy authorities from invading Rafah and displacing citizens from it.
She stressed that Israel's occupation of the Rafah crossing and the threat of displacement of citizens from shelters are war crimes.
Yesterday, the Palestinian resistance factions issued a statement in which they stressed that the Zionist enemy's launch of a ground aggression on Rafah, the occupation and destruction of its crossing and the closure of the Kerem Shalom crossing - the only outlet to the Gaza Strip - is "a humanitarian catastrophe targeting 2.5 million Palestinian citizens in the Strip."
The factions stressed in their statement that this "reveals the enemy's intentions to commit massacres and a humanitarian catastrophe by cutting off food, humanitarian and medical supply lines and the movement of passengers to the wounded and citizens, and preventing the entry of food trucks, which are not enough if they enter daily from the need of five percent.
She considered that this "confirms the Zionist government's unwillingness to stop the aggression and achieve a prisoner exchange deal, which threatens the course of negotiations and leaves the occupation to continue the genocide of the Palestinian people."
At the end of their statement, the factions called on the countries of the world and international and UN institutions to intervene immediately to save the lives of 2.5 million citizens threatened by death, hunger, massacres and genocide in the largest humanitarian disaster the world is witnessing now.
The Palestinian factions accused the Zionist enemy of trying to undermine the ongoing truce talks in Cairo by escalating the offensive.
"The incursion of the Zionist enemy army into the Rafah border crossing is a dangerous escalation against a civilian facility protected by international law," she said.
Palestinian politicians confirmed the Zionist enemy's recent step and the storming of the Rafah land crossing, and the launch of a series of Zionist raids on different areas of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, which comes within the framework of the comprehensive war waged by the Zionist enemy against the Palestinian people despite all the calls and condemnation and international and regional warning that a military operation in Rafah may cause a humanitarian catastrophe.
A member of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas" Izzat al-Rishq said in a statement: "Any military aggression on Rafah will fail the course of negotiations."
"Any military operation in Rafah will put the negotiations in jeopardy, and it will not be a picnic for the enemy army."
The "Qassam Brigades," the military wing of Hamas, vowed the Zionist forces for taking a decision to storm the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, and said in a brief statement: "You chose to storm Rafah.
You will not pass," she said, adding a photo of its members confronting the Zionist enemy army and destroying its vehicles.
Internationally.. China and France condemned the Zionist military attack on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and declared their opposition to the Zionist ground offensive on Rafah.
It would lead to a large-scale humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip. Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a joint statement with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, stressed the need to protect civilians in Gaza in accordance with international humanitarian law.
In turn, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, on Tuesday, criticized the advance of the Zionist enemy army towards the city of Rafah in Gaza.
"I am afraid that this will again cause a lot of casualties, and I mean civilian casualties," he said. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned in a tweet on the X website of a large-scale military offensive on Rafah, saying that a million people cannot disappear in the air.
The residents of Rafah urgently need more humanitarian assistance, and the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings must be opened immediately.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry also condemned the Zionist attacks on Rafah. It shows that the Zionist entity is not acting in good faith and must withdraw immediately from the Rafah crossing.
It said in a statement that any attack on Rafah would affect the entire world, and Israel must withdraw from the part of the Rafah crossing it controlled immediately.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that a Zionist invasion of the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah would have devastating humanitarian consequences and a destabilizing impact on the region.
Guterres expressed grave concern about the Zionist military movements in Rafah.
He said an invasion of the city would be unacceptable and intolerable given that there are about 1.5 million displaced people in the area.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk described the deportation orders issued by the Zionist enemy army to the residents of eastern Rafah as inhumane.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters called in a statement on the government's website on Tuesday for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to avoid further "humanitarian disasters."
"We cannot allow further suffering in Gaza. Both sides bear the responsibility for the ceasefire."
For her part, Belgian Minister of Development Cooperation Caroline Guinés called on EU member states to stop exporting weapons to the Zionist enemy entity.
At a press conference, she stressed the need to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The Commission calls on the European Union to continue its commitments and funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
On Monday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was "deeply concerned" by an attack Israel was preparing on Rafah.
He called on "all parties, especially Hamas" to accept an agreement leading to the release of the Zionist hostages.
The regional spokesman for the US State Department, Samuel Warberg, told "Al-Sharq" on Tuesday that his country does not support any "large-scale" Zionist military operation in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani strongly condemned the attack of the Zionist enemy entity on the Rafah border area in the southern Gaza Strip.
He recalled that the attack on this region, despite all the international warnings and the strong opposition of the international community, shows the greed of the enemy entity that does not abide by any international norms.
Kanani stressed that "the attack on Rafah aims to thwart international efforts to stop the war and end the genocide in Gaza."
"The key to peace and security in the region is the immediate and unconditional cessation of the war against the Palestinian people," he said.
He appealed to the international community to intervene immediately to stop the war and the ongoing brutal Zionist violations of international law and international humanitarian law, and to hold the Zionist enemy fully responsible for these violations, war crimes and the policy of starvation and forced displacement.
For its part, the Republic of South Africa expressed its "surprise" at the order issued by Israel to evacuate the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip by excessive force, in preparation for its invasion by land.
This came in a statement issued Tuesday by the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation in South Africa, which has previously filed a genocide lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
The statement said the South African government was "deeply disturbed" by developments in the Gaza Strip.
"We are horrified and surprised by Israel's announcement of the need to evacuate Rafah immediately through excessive force."
She stressed the need to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The Commission called on the European Union to continue its commitments and funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
At the level of international organizations.
Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said this had "choked" the two main arteries for aid into Gaza, with very few stocks inside the territory.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said in a post on the communication platform "X" that catastrophic hunger rates, especially in the northern Gaza Strip, will worsen if supply lines are cut off.
The executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP) also warned of a "total famine" in the northern Gaza Strip.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has previously expressed concern that the closure of the crossing between Egypt and Gaza will have a significant impact on the supply of medicines and the entry of medical workers.
Arab.. The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned in a statement on Wednesday the Zionist enemy's bombing of Rafah, its invasion of the land crossing, and its threat to displace citizens from shelters.
She called for urgent international action to prevent the invasion of the city of Rafah, the commission of genocide, and the protection of civilians.
Forcing civilians to forcibly flee the city, which has become a last refuge for hundreds of thousands of displaced people inside the Gaza Strip, is a serious violation of international law and would compound the deepening humanitarian crisis in the besieged enclave.
In turn, Egyptian media reported that Cairo demanded that Tel Aviv stop its military movements at the Rafah crossing from the Palestinian side "immediately."
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry had previously condemned, on Tuesday, in a statement, the Zionist military operations in Rafah, and the resulting Zionist control of the crossing.
"This dangerous escalation threatens the lives of more than one million Palestinians who rely mainly on this crossing as the main lifeline of the Gaza Strip, and a safe exit for the wounded and sick to receive treatment, and the entry of humanitarian and relief aid to the Palestinian brothers in Gaza," she said.
Egypt's condemnation of the operation launched by the Zionist enemy forces on the Palestinian city of Rafah topped the attention of Cairo newspapers, issued on Wednesday morning, in addition to local affairs.
For his part, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that the Zionist enemy occupied the Rafah crossing and closed it to humanitarian aid instead of giving negotiations a chance.
The attack on Rafah threatens another massacre. Safadi stressed that the Security Council must act decisively immediately, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must face real consequences.
For its part, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry warned in a statement on Tuesday that the Israeli army's targeting of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip portends a "grave humanitarian disaster" and contributes to the implementation of Zionist forced displacement plans for Palestinians.
"Any action against Rafah threatens a grave humanitarian catastrophe for more than one million Palestinians who have been displaced to the region as a result of the continuous Zionist aggression on the Gaza Strip for seven months," she said.
The Sultanate of Oman also expressed its concern over the continued military escalation practiced by the Zionist enemy forces and the crimes of genocide against civilians in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories.In a statement issued by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Sultanate warned of the consequences of Zionist military operations in the city of Rafah, which portend serious catastrophic effects that may lead to the expansion of conflict and tension in the region.
It is worth mentioning that the Rafah crossing is a very important outlet for the passage of aid into the Gaza Strip and the removal of war wounded.
Since the beginning of the war seven months ago, the Rafah crossing, the only crossing in the Strip not managed by the Zionist entity, has been the main lifeline between the outside world and Gaza's 2.3 million residents, allowing humanitarian supplies to enter and patients to be transported abroad amid the collapse of health care facilities.
Al-hamadani
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