China has joined the chorus of condemnation and concern over Israel’s looming ground operations in Rafah.
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered his soldiers to prepare for an offensive in Gaza, an area once declared a “safe zone” and where 1.4 million Palestinians have sought refuge from fighting.
Israeli forces have extended steadily southwards in Gaza, making Rafah the last key city that troops have yet to enter.
Israel is determined to extend its ground operation to Rafah despite international alarm over the potential for mass carnage in the city.
China warned of a “serious humanitarian disaster” if Israel persists with its assault on Gaza.
China called on Israel to stop military operations “as soon as possible.”
It added that Israel should do everything possible to avoid casualties among innocent civilians and prevent a more devastating humanitarian disaster in Rafah.
A Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said in a statement that China “opposes and condemns” actions that harm civilians and violate international law.
Aside China, a number of officials as well as agencies, voiced their worry and criticism against Israel’s planned offenive.
The President of the United Nations General Assembly, Dennis Francis, said that he is “deeply distressed” by Israel’s escalating military operation in Rafah in southern Gaza.
“Another phase of this humanitarian catastrophe is at our doorstep. This is not a path to sustainable peace,” he noted in a post on X.
Also, the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention, a legal think-tank, “strongly condemned” Israel’s planned military operation in the overcrowded Rafah.
In an “SOS Alert” statement, the institute said the attacks on Rafah combined with the recent suspension of funding for UNRWA, the largest humanitarian agency in Gaza, have “worsened the already horrific humanitarian situation.”
The combined punishments are “imposing acute anxiety on the residents who are scared for their uncertain future.”
It is the fifth SOS Alert issued on the situation in Gaza since October by the institute, which is named after the Jewish-Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin who coined the term genocide in the 1940s and helped make it an international crime.
Pakistani Foreign Minister, Jalil Abbas Jilani said on X that Pakistan condemns these acts of violence against innocent Palestinians and calls for an immediate ceasefire.
He asserted that the world cannot “afford to look away.”
Separately, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that there has been an escalation in settler violence, which involves firing live ammunition at Palestinians, torching homes, attacking people and confiscating land.
It called for “strong international sanctions against the colonising militias and the entire colonial system.”
“The purpose of this escalation is to entrench Israel’s control of Palestinian territory, and it is considered a direct challenge to international law and an extension of the racist colonial mindset that is intent on fanning the flames of the conflict,” it said.
Israeli Forces Announces Death Of Palestinian Fighters
Also on Tuesday, Israeli forces announced that they killed dozens of Palestinian fighters in clashes in southern and central Gaza over the last 24 hours.
More than 30 gunmen were killed in Khan Younis in the south of the enclave, where fierce fighting has been reported in recent days.
Khan Younis was designated as a “safe zone” for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who evacuated from the northern parts of Gaza City.
Meanwhile, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, at least 22 people have been arrested in the occupied West Bank.
The arrests included a child.
The Israeli operations were concentrated in the Jenin governorate, while the rest of the arrests were made in Ramallah, Hebron, Bethlehem, Salfit and Jerusalem.
The group said that more than 7,000 Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied territory since October 7, 2024.
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