Planned Israeli offensive in Rafah 'alarming': Borrell
Israel's plans for a military offensive on Rafah in the Gaza Strip are "alarming," the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borell said on Friday. Borell said on X, the former Twitter, that "1.4 million Palestinians are currently in Rafah without safe place to go, facing starvation." Rafah is the southernmost city in the Palestinian enclave that has been hit by a fierce Israeli offensive since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. Many of the population of 2.2 million have taken refuge there. "Reports of an Israeli military offensive on Rafah are alarming," he added. "It would have catastrophic consequences worsening the already dire humanitarian situation and the unbearable civilian toll." Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told officials to "submit to the cabinet a combined plan for evacuating the population and destroying the battalions" of Hamas holed up in Rafah, his office said. Netanyahu said this week he had ordered troops to prepare to move into Rafah, and that "total victory" against the militants would come in months. Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, in Israel according to a tally based on official Israeli figures. In response, Israel vowed to eradicate Hamas and launched air strikes and a ground offensive that have killed at least 27,947 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Militants seized 250 hostages, 132 of whom are still in Gaza, but 29 are presumed dead, Israel has said. (AFP)