‘Irresponsible, illegal and inhumane’: Pressure mounts on Israel for Gaza ceasefire following raid in Rafah – Pakistan

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Pakistan condemns “resulting destruction and massacre of the Palestinian people” while UN rights chief urges world powers to “restrain rather than enable” the military operation.

Israel faces growing international pressure to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas, as it prepared for an incursion the southern Gaza city of Rafah where more than a million Palestinians are trapped.

After rejecting Hamas’ terms for a truce last week, Israel conducted a predawn raid in Rafah on Monday that freed two hostages and killed around 100 people.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the operation that freed Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Luis Har, 70, as “perfect”, while the Palestinian foreign ministry said the deaths of dozens of Gazans amounted to a “massacre”.

The rare rescue mission came hours after the Israel premier spoke with US President Joe Biden, who reiterated his opposition to a major assault on Rafah.

Netanyahu rebuffed Israel’s key ally, insisting that “complete victory” cannot be achieved without the elimination of the militants’ last battalions in Rafah.

Listed below are the countries and organisations that have voiced their concern and urged Israel to not proceed with its planned offensive in the overcrowded area of Rafah.

Pakistan

Pakistan has condemned Israel’s “military aggression against Rafah city in Gaza and the resulting destruction and massacre of the Palestinian people”.

In a statement, the Foreign Office said: “Israel’s offensive in Rafah violates the provisional measures indicated by the International Court of Justice to protect the people of Gaza from “genocide”.

“It will further aggravate the humanitarian disaster witnessed in Gaza over the last four months and jeopardise the ongoing efforts for a potential ceasefire,” the FO warned.

Pakistan urged the “international community, especially the UN Security Council, to take urgent measures to bring an immediate end to Israeli aggression and its incessant crimes against humanity”.

Interim Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani termed Israel’s bombing in Rafah “deplorable and a grave violation of international law and human rights”.

“Pakistan condemns these acts of violence against innocent Palestinians and calls for an immediate ceasefire. The world cannot afford to look away,” he said in a post on X.

said the prospect of a full Israeli incursion into Rafah was “terrifying” and risked an “extremely high” number of casualties.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk urged world powers to “restrain rather than enable” the military incursion.

“A potential full-fledged military incursion into Rafah — where some 1.5 million Palestinians are packed against the Egyptian border with nowhere further to flee — is terrifying, given the prospect that an extremely high number of civilians, again mostly children and women, will likely be killed and injured,” Turk said in a statement.

“Sadly, given the carnage wrought so far in Gaza, it is wholly imaginable what would lie ahead in Rafah.

“Beyond the pain and suffering of the bombs and bullets, this incursion into Rafah may also mean the end of the meagre humanitarian aid that has been entering and distributed with huge implications for all of Gaza, including the hundreds of thousands at grave risk of starvation and famine in the north.”

European Union

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged allies of Israel, primarily the United States, to stop sending it weapons as “too many people” are being killed in Gaza.

Pointing to Biden’s comment last week that Israel’s military action was “over the top”, Borrell said: “Well, if you believe that too many people are being killed, maybe you should provide less arms in order to prevent so many people have been killed.”

“Is (it) not logical?” he asked, in a Brussels news conference alongside Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA whom Israel is pressuring to resign.

“How many times have you heard the most prominent leaders and foreign ministers around the world saying too many people are being killed?” Borrell asked.

The diplomat slammed an order by Netanyahu that more than one million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah need to be “evacuated” ahead of a planned Israeli military operation there. “They are going to evacuate — where? To the moon? Where are they going to evacuate these people?” Borrell asked.

In a post on X, he echoed the warning that the offensive could “lead to an unspeakable humanitarian catastrophe and grave tensions with Egypt”.

statement.

Beijing urged Israel to “stop its military operation as soon as possible, (and) make every effort to avoid innocent civilian casualties, in order to prevent a more serious humanitarian disaster in the Rafah area”.

statement, its foreign ministry said: “As the humanitarian situation on the ground deteriorates and the number of civilian casualties, including a large number of children, women, and elderly people, continues to rise, it is crucial to improve the humanitarian situation as soon as possible and to secure an environment in which humanitarian assistance activities can be carried out to achieve this.”

It reiterated the importance of protecting civilians and urged “all parties to act in accordance with international law including international humanitarian law, and to act in good faith based on relevant UN Security Council resolutions, including ensuring humanitarian assistance”.

statement issued by its foreign ministry, it warned that the Israeli operation would “exacerbate tension in the region, and further derail efforts towards immediate cessation of hostilities and permanent ceasefire”.

“Malaysia demands Israel to immediately desist and abide by its obligations under international law. This dastardly military operation clearly vindicates the key goal by the Zionist regime to annihilate the Palestinians from their own land,” it said.

Malaysia emphasised that the Israeli action would be in “clear contempt of the rulings by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 26 January 2024 on the six provisional measures”.

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