Jordan, Germany warn against Israeli ground attack on Rafah

By Laith Junaidi

AMMAN, Jordan (AA) – Jordan and Germany warned Sunday that an Israeli ground attack on Rafah city will worsen humanitarian conditions in the southern Gaza Strip.

Jordanian King Abdullah II held talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the Red Sea port city of Aqaba to discuss developments in Gaza, the royal court said in a statement.

Abdullah underlined the need for the international community “to move urgently to reach an immediate and permanent cease-fire in the Gaza Strip,” the statement said.

He called for doubling efforts to protect civilians and provide sufficient humanitarian aid by all possible means, it added.

The two leaders also warned that an Israeli ground attack on Rafah, where 1.4 million people have taken refuge from the ongoing Israeli war, “would exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza."

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since a Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 31,600 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and nearly 73,700 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi