Palestine calls on US to take ‘concrete action’ to stop Israeli ‘genocidal massacres’ in Gaza

By Awad Rajoub

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Palestine on Saturday called on Washington to take “concrete action” to stop the Israeli “genocidal massacres,” as Tel Aviv is preparing to expand its ground offensive to Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, local media reported.

“The ground Israeli military offensive escalation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and attempts to forcibly displace Palestinian citizens do not absolve the American administration of its responsibility,” the Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the Palestinian presidency’s spokesperson, as saying.

He called on the US administration to “force the Israeli government to halt its genocidal massacres and atrocious crimes committed against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

"What is required of the American administration is to force the occupation to stop the genocidal massacres it is committing against the Palestinian people,” the spokesman said, adding that “this will push matters to the brink of the abyss.”

He pointed out that “this unprecedented Israeli escalation is an attempt to evade stopping the ongoing brutal aggression on Gaza and implementing Security Council resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.”

“The world must stand together to halt the Israeli aggression and the forcible displacement of the Palestinian people in Gaza,” he said, calling on the US administration to “take concrete action to immediately stop this offensive, which will only push the entire region into endless wars.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday ordered the military 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."

The Palestinians have sought refuge in Rafah as Israel pounded the rest of the enclave following the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion. The bombardment has killed over 28,000 people, besides causing mass destruction and shortages of basic 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.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi