Spanish premier says int’l community ‘cannot stand passively by’ amid Rafah offensive

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Monday that the international community “cannot stand passively by” amid the tragedy in Gaza and an Israeli offensive in the city of Rafah.

“An offensive in Rafah will only increase the suffering already endured by the Palestinian people,” Sanchez said on X after discussing the situation with the leaders of Ireland and Qatar.

On Monday morning, Israel began issuing evacuation notices to an estimated 100,000 people in eastern Rafah.

In response, Sanchez called for an “urgent cease-fire” to “prevent the deaths of more innocent civilians and to allow the entry of humanitarian aid and the release of Israeli hostages.”

“The international community cannot stand passively by in the face of this tragedy,” he said.

By Monday evening, the Palestinian group Hamas announced that it had accepted a proposed cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. However, Israeli authorities have not agreed to the deal and have not backtracked on the evacuation orders.

After the Israeli military told people to leave parts of Rafah, Tel Aviv came under intense criticism from many of its traditional allies.

The White House said that US President Joe Biden “reiterated his clear position” to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against an invasion of Rafah.

Germany, one of Israel’s strongest supporters in the European Union, also urged Israel to refrain from a large-scale ground offensive in the area.

The United Nations also warned about the "devastating consequences" of a Rafah offensive, with spokesperson Stephane Dujarric telling reporters that “any operation in Rafah would push an already fragile aid operation to the breaking point.”

Earlier in the day, Sanchez and his Irish counterpart Simon Harris both said they were working on recognizing Palestinian statehood “shortly,” saying it is the only way to secure a just peace in the region.

Spain has been pushing for an international peace conference that would result in the entire international community recognizing a “viable Palestinian state” as well as an Israeli state.

Rafah is home to more than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians who have taken refuge from the war launched by Israel following a Hamas attack last Oct. 7 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.