Kuwait, Qatar, UAE express concerns about Israel's plans to attack Rafah

By Rania Abu Shamala

ISTANBUL (AA) - Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) condemned on Saturday the Israeli army's plans to attack Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry “expresses its deep concern about the Israeli occupation forces' plans to attack the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip after forcibly deporting its civilians.”

It reiterated Kuwait's stance that rejects “aggressive practices and displacement schemes against the Palestinian people.”

It also reaffirmed its position that urges “the international community and the Security Council to fulfill their responsibilities in protecting innocent Palestinian civilians.”

The agency encouraged “the activation of international accountability mechanisms to put an end to the ongoing Israeli violations of international law, humanitarian law, and legitimate international resolutions.”

Qatari “strongly condemned the Israeli threats to invade Rafah.”

Doha warned of “a humanitarian catastrophe in the city, which has become the last refuge for hundreds of thousands of displaced people inside the besieged enclave.”

It asked “the United Nations Security Council to urgently act to prevent the Israeli occupation forces from invading Rafah and committing genocide in the city.”

Qatar reiterated its “firm rejection of attempts to forcibly displace the Palestinian people from Gaza.”

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its “serious concern about the Israeli army's plans and preparations to launch a military operation in the densely populated area of Rafah, which is filled with displaced Palestinians.”

The UAE warned of “the serious humanitarian repercussions that Israeli military operations in Rafah may cause.”

It emphasized that such actions “threaten to cause further innocent fatalities and exacerbate the humanitarian disaster in the region.”​​​​​​​

The UAE reiterated “its strong condemnation of any forced deportation of the Palestinian people and any practices that violate international legitimacy, international law, and humanitarian law.”

It called on “the international community to exert all efforts, without delay, to achieve an immediate ceasefire to avoid further escalation of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military on Friday to submit a dual plan to evacuate Palestinian residents from Rafah, home to more than 1 million residents seeking refuge from war, and to defeat the remaining "Hamas battalions."

Palestinians have sought refuge in Rafah as Israel pounded the rest of the enclave following an Oct. 7 incursion by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed 28,000 victims and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.​​​​​​​