Saudi Arabia warns against any Israeli attack on Rafah

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – Saudi Arabia warned Monday against any Israeli ground attack on Rafah city at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip.

A Foreign Ministry statement reiterated the kingdom’s "categorical rejection" of the Israeli army's "continued blatant violations of all international resolutions."

It called for the cessation of the Israeli “massacres and their violation of international law and international humanitarian law without deterrence, which exacerbates the humanitarian crisis and limits international peace efforts.”

The ministry called on the international community "to intervene immediately to stop the genocide carried out by" the Israeli army against defenseless civilians in the Palestinian territories.

The Israeli army issued immediate evacuation orders early Monday for Palestinians in the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah and called on them to move to the town of al-Mawasi in southern Gaza.

Around 100,000 Palestinian civilians are estimated to be living in the areas to be evacuated, according to Israeli Army Radio.

Rafah is home to more than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians who have taken refuge from the war launched by Israel following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack that killed nearly 1,200 people.

Since then, the Israeli onslaught has killed more than 34,700 Palestinians, mostly women and children, besides causing a humanitarian catastrophe.

Nearly seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

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