9 February 2024 at 18:12 Barth Eide strongly warns Israel against moving into Rafah: – I fear a bloodbath On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he will send soldiers into Rafah, the border town in the very south of the Gaza Strip. Nearly 1.5 million Palestinians live in the city, most of them internally displaced. Around half of the people in the border town are children. – We have instructed the IDF to operate in Rafah, the last fortified area of Hamas, Netanyahu said on Wednesday. On Friday, Netanyahu announced that he has asked the Israeli military to prepare for an evacuation of Palestinians from the city. Now Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) strongly warns against moving into the Palestinian border town. – I fear a bloodbath if Israeli forces now move into Rafah. Over 1 million people have already been through hell on earth and have sought refuge in a city that usually houses 200,000, says Barth Eide in a statement to NTB. He says the people in Rafah no longer have anywhere to flee to and points out that international law is clear that civilians must be protected. – I want to strongly warn Israel of the tragic consequences for the civilian population if they do this. A ground operation will make an already catastrophic situation even worse, and even more difficult to bring in vital humanitarian aid, says Barth Eide.
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