Norway urges Israel to refrain from attacking Rafah, warns of worsening Palestinian refugees tragedy

By Leila Nezirevic

LONDON (AA) – Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide on Monday called on Israel to refrain from a military invasion of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, warning such action would be a tragedy for displaced Palestinians.

“Israel must refrain from further plans to enter Rafah, where more than one million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge,” Eide said in a statement.

According to him, it would make it even more difficult and dangerous to provide Palestinians with life-saving humanitarian aid.

“Gaza is a man-made disaster. Words cannot describe the suffering and hardship its 2.3 million inhabitants have endured over the past seven months,” he added.

Eide said every attack that jeopardizes the delivery of critical aid to Gaza is "a betrayal of Palestinian women and children."

Earlier, Israeli forces asked people to leave parts of Rafah on Monday, raising concerns that Tel Aviv is proceeding with its brutal assault and ground offensive on the city in southern Gaza, where a large number of Palestinians sought refuge after being forced to flee other parts of the besieged enclave.

The city's current population is estimated to be around 1.5 million, and it is unclear where they will seek refuge from Israel's brutal military offensive.

NGOs have warned that the people of Rafah, as well as those who have been displaced from other parts of Gaza, have no other place to go if Israel bombs the city.

Despite warnings from Israel’s allies, including the US, Tel Aviv has insisted that an attack on Rafah will take place.

Norwegian top diplomat Eide also urged the international community, as well as Israeli and Palestinian authorities, to engage in political dialogue, including moving forward with the work for a Palestinian state.

He added that having plans for what happens next is also “crucial” for the ongoing cease-fire negotiations and humanitarian aid work.

More than 34,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and over 78,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities in Tel Aviv’s war on Gaza.

International organizations, including UN agencies, have demanded a cease-fire in Gaza and increased humanitarian aid access to address medical shortages, hunger, thirst, and hygiene deficiencies leading to diseases in Gaza.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said in March that "hunger is everywhere" in Gaza.

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

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