European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. File
| Photo Credit: AP

The European Union on Wednesday urged Israel to end its military operation in Gaza’s Rafah “immediately”, warning that failure to do so would undermine ties with the bloc.

“Should Israel continue its military operation in Rafah, it would inevitably put a heavy strain on the EU’s relationship with Israel,” said the statement issued in the EU’s name by its foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

“The European Union urges Israel to end its military operation in Rafah immediately,” the statement said, warning it was “further disrupting the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza and is leading to more internal displacement, exposure to famine and human suffering.”

The bloc — the main aid donor for the Palestinian territories and Israel’s biggest trading partner — said more than a million people in and around Rafah had been ordered by Israel to flee the area to other zones the UN says cannot be considered safe.

“While the EU recognises Israel’s right to defend itself, Israel must do so in line with International Humanitarian Law and provide safety to civilians,” it said.

The law requires Israel to allow in humanitarian aid, the statement stressed.

The EU also condemned a Hamas attack on the Kerem Shalom border crossing which blocked humanitarian relief supplies.

“We call on all parties to redouble their efforts to achieve an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas,” it said.

Israel’s military operations in Gaza were launched in retaliation for Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israeli which killed more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, and saw around 250 hostages taken.

Israel’s military has conducted a relentless bombardment from the air and a ground offensive inside Gaza that has killed more than 35,000, mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry.

Israel’s main allies, the United States and the EU, as well as the United Nations, have all warned Israel against a major operation in Rafah given that it would add to the civilian toll.

People walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 14, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Israeli troops fought Hamas militants in multiple battles across the Gaza Strip, forcing new waves of Palestinian mass displacement, as Israel marked a sombre Independence Day on Tuesday.

Clashes have rocked the densely crowded far-southern city of Rafah but also flared again in northern and central Gaza, months after troops and tanks first entered those areas.

The United States has repeatedly urged a Gaza ceasefire and called on its ally Israel to devise “a strategic endgame” and post-war plan, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.

This would help Israel avoid “getting mired in a counterinsurgency campaign that never ends and ultimately saps Israel’s strength and vitality,” Mr. Sullivan told a briefing in Washington on Monday.

Recent battles and heavy Israeli bombardments have been reported around Rafah as well as in Gaza City and Jabalia refugee camp in the north and Nuseirat camp in the centre.

More than seven months into the war, Israeli strikes and ground combat have claimed another 82 lives in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory said.

Nearly 4,50,000 Palestinians have been newly displaced from Rafah in recent days, and around 1,00,000 from northern Gaza, said UN agencies which warn that “no place is safe” in the territory.

Talks stalled

Talks toward a truce and hostage release deal have stalled after months of efforts involving U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators.

Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said “unfortunately things didn’t move in the right direction and right now we are on a status of almost a stalemate”.

“Of course, what happened with Rafah has set us backwards,” he added.