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The death toll has exceeded 40,000 since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on Oct 7, 2023.
GAZA -- At least eight Palestinians, including a child, were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a house in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical sources said Saturday.
Medical sources and paramedics told Xinhua that several others were injured in the strike on a house belonging to the "Shahin" family in central Rafah, and all the casualties had been sent to a hospital in the city.
Israeli warplanes also struck areas in the city near the enclave's border with Egypt, a southernmost Gazan city that has seen a large inflow of Palestinians who fled their homes in central and northern Gaza to take shelter.
Also on Saturday, Hamas-run Health Ministry's spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said the Israeli army destroyed 150 medical facilities and took 32 hospitals out of service since the ongoing conflict started on Oct. 7, 2023.
He said the remaining three hospitals in Rafah are overcrowded and cannot provide care for more than a million people suffering from malnutrition.
He noted that in northern Gaza, health workers were also unable to provide care as the Israeli army refused to deliver medical supplies and fuel there.
JERUSALEM - An Israeli official said on Saturday that the talks held in Paris over a truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict were productive, and a deal could be signed "soon", Israeli state media reported.
The Israeli delegation, headed by Mossad intelligence agency chief David Barnea, Shin Bet internal security chief Ronen Bar and army officials, returned early on Saturday morning.
A new outline for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and a truce was achieved in the talks, which were brokered by Qatari and US negotiators, an Israeli official told Israel's state-owned Kan TV news.
"There is progress and the agreement could be signed soon," said the official. However, he added that more work is needed to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas. The efforts will continue in follow-up discussions to be held in the coming days.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet is expected to receive an update on the results of the talks in the evening.
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has unveiled his post-war strategy for Gaza, the first since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out in October last year, involving a continuous military presence in the Palestinian enclave and the replacement of Hamas, his office said in a statement on Friday.
The document, presented by Netanyahu to members of his security cabinet on Thursday, outlines principles regarding the management of the Gaza Strip after the conflict.
The plan aims to install "local officials" unaffiliated with attacks against Israelis to administer services in the Palestinian enclave instead of Hamas. "As far as possible, the civil administration and responsibility for the public order in the Gaza Strip will be based on locals with administrative experience," the document read.
The reconstruction of Gaza, following Israeli bombardments that devastated much of its infrastructure and buildings, would begin only after the demilitarization and "deradicalization" of Gaza, as outlined in the plan. The reconstruction would be financed and carried out by countries deemed "acceptable by Israel".
The plan calls for tightening Israel's security grip on Gaza. Under the proposed plan, Israel will "maintain operational freedom of military actions throughout the Gaza Strip, without time constraints", to prevent the resurgence of hostilities from the Palestinian enclave.
A "security buffer zone", inaccessible to Palestinians, would be established on Gaza territory, according to the plan. Israeli media reports indicated that Israeli forces have already begun demolishing buildings, greenhouses, and agricultural fields in the northern Gaza Strip to clear the ground for the creation of this zone.
Along the Gaza-Egypt border, Israel will have its presence to thwart smuggling, according to the plan.
Defying international calls for Palestinian statehood after the war, the plan shows Israel plans to maintain "security control" over the entire West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Less than one-and-a-half pages long, the document was published four-and-a-half months after Israel launched its retaliatory war against Hamas in Gaza in response to the movement's deadly surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023.
GAZA -- At least 40 Palestinians were killed and 100 others injured in Israeli airstrikes on the central Gaza Strip, the media office of the Hamas-run government in Gaza said in a press statement on Thursday.
Palestinian security sources told Xinhua that Israeli aircraft launched several raids on a number of residential houses in the city of Deir el-Balah, which led to their complete destruction.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry noted that the bodies of some victims had been transferred to the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
Ambulances and civil defense teams rushed to the sites of the attacks to save people after the Israeli raids left the neighborhood severely damaged, the security sources added.
Medical sources said that the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital is now crowded with thousands of wounded, sick and displaced people.
GAZA -- The Israeli army sent four armored personnel carriers into Nasser Hospital shortly after it withdrew troops from the facility, the Gaza-based Palestinian health ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
Palestinian security sources told Xinhua that the Israeli army forces have converted the complex into a military barracks through days of siege and attacks.
An earlier report by Israel's Channel 13 news claimed that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had ended their operation at the hospital.
Ashraf al-Qedra, the spokesman for the health ministry, told Xinhua that the hospital housed more than 120 wounded and patients, as well as medical teams.
He noted that during the siege, the hospital, which is the second-largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, was "without electricity, water, food, oxygen, and proper medical care for critical cases."
He urged the World Health Organization to use all means to pressure Israel to end the "militarization of hospitals and provide all humanitarian and medical needs."
Two days ago, Israeli public radio reported that the army forces fighting in the Nasser Hospital area needed a few more days to complete their control over the site.
It added that the hospital had become a refuge for a large number of Hamas fighters who fled from the northern Gaza Strip, noting that dozens of them were killed, while around two hundred surrendered to the Israeli army, many of whom were disguised in medical personnel uniforms.
In addition, It mentioned that large quantities of weapons, ammunition, and drugs were found at the site, which were transferred to the Israeli detainees.
However, the forces did not obtain any information that would contribute to the release of the abducted persons.
CAIRO - Arab states have condemned the United States for vetoing another UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, as looming Israeli attacks on the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah raise concerns that the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave may deepen.
During an emergency session of the UN Security Council held in New York on Tuesday, the draft resolution put forward on behalf of Arab states by Algeria won 13 votes in favor among the 15 members of the Security Council. The United States voted against it while Britain abstained.
MASSIVE OUTCRY
"The US veto, which defies the will of the international community, will give an additional green light to Israel to continue its aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip, and to carry out its bloody attack on Rafah," the Palestinian presidency said in a statement carried by Palestine's official news agency WAFA on Wednesday.
Secretary-General of the Arab League (AL) Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Wednesday voiced his "deep regret" over the US move, the third time since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict in October last year that the United States interfered to fail a draft resolution aimed to reach a ceasefire.
The US positions undermined the credibility of the international system and contributed to the paralysis witnessed by the United Nations, Aboul Gheit was quoted as saying in an AL statement.
Egypt and Qatar, having been actively brokering deals between Israel and Hamas since their conflict began, have expressed their regret.
Egypt strongly denounced the "selectivity and double standards in dealing with wars and armed conflicts in various regions of the world," the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the Syrian Foreign Ministry slammed the US veto as "arbitrary and disgraceful," accusing the US of being hypocritical, as it claimed to support human rights while allowing the Israeli "killing machine" to continue its attacks on Palestinian civilians.
Jordan, which borders Israel and has normalized ties with Israel, expressed on Tuesday its regret and disappointment at the failure of the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
"All those impeding such calls should review their policies and calculations because wrong decisions today will have a cost on our region and our world tomorrow. This cost will be violence and instability, " Algeria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Amar Bendjama was quoted by the UN news as saying on Tuesday.
DEEP CONCERN
The resolution was put forward at a time when Israel has signaled its intention to conduct a ground operation in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city that shelters about 1.4 million Palestinians, to "eliminate" Hamas and rescue Israeli hostages who were taken by Hamas militants in October last year.
While visiting the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops on Tuesday in southern Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed that his country will continue the fighting until all goals are achieved. "There is no pressure, none, that can change this," he said.
Israel's reported plan for an assault on Rafah has sounded alarm bells globally, with many countries urging restraint or cancellation of the operation.
Regional countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain, voiced deep concern over the potential offensive on Monday.
Twenty-six EU member states called for an "immediate humanitarian pause that would lead to a sustainable ceasefire" in the besieged Gaza Strip, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in Brussels on Monday.
US ADDING TO CRISIS
Despite the mounting calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, the Biden administration is preparing to send a new package of weapons to Israel, which is estimated to be worth tens of millions of US dollars, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, citing anonymous US officials.
"The Americans are not doing anything practical to stop the (Israel-Hamas) war," said Youssef Diab, a political analyst from the Lebanese University.
The repeated trips to Israel by US President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as the US financial and military support for Israel, have given Israel the green light to continue the war on Gaza and kill more children, he said.
Both the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation countries have lamented the US veto of the United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza, seeing it as defying growing international appeals for peace.
On Tuesday, the Security Council failed to adopt the resolution — put forth by Algeria — which also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as unhindered humanitarian access.
The Gulf Cooperation Council spokeswoman and Qatar's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Alya Ahmed Saif Al Thani said the GCC countries — the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar — expressed regret, calling Algeria's draft "humanitarian" in content and consistent with international humanitarian law.
"Our countries will continue their efforts along with partners to ensure reaching a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, in order to spare the blood of our Palestinian brothers and to ensure the arrival of more humanitarian and relief aid to the Strip and to protect civilians," Al Thani was quoted as saying by the Saudi Press Agency.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia warned of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza as well as the escalation of military operations "that threaten international peace and security".
"The escalation does not serve any efforts, calling for a dialogue and a peaceful solution to the Palestinian (question) in accordance with the relevant international resolutions," the statement said.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the UAE's Permanent Mission to the UN said it "is deeply disappointed with the outcome" of the vote on the humanitarian cease-fire draft resolution, which it noted was supported by 13 of the 15 members.
'No end in sight'
"After more than four months of carnage and no end in sight, this war must end," it said.
According to the UN, the Security Council resolutions are legally binding. If the Council cannot reach a consensus or a passing vote on a resolution, it may choose to produce a nonbinding presidential statement instead of a resolution.
"Now that the US has taken this unfortunate position at the UN Security Council, the average person in the Gulf expects the US to press Israel not to carry out its threatened assault on Rafah," Jasim Husain, a Gulf analyst and former member of Bahrain's parliament, told China Daily.
"Also, people here want the US to ensure no fighting during the fasting month of Ramadan," he added.
Meanwhile, in a statement on Wednesday, the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation said it "regrets deeply" the US' use of veto against the Security Council draft resolution, describing it as "a negative reflection of the Security Council's role in the maintenance of international peace and security, protection of civilians and ensuring delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip".
Furthermore, it renewed its call on the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to "assume its responsibilities "and "take urgent measures" to stop the conflict in the Gaza Strip, now more than four months old.
GAZA -- At least 17 Palestinians were killed and more than 34 others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, local medical sources told Xinhua on Wednesday.
The sources added that rescue efforts are still ongoing, and the casualties, now including women and children, may increase further.
JERUSALEM -- Israel will send a delegation for Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo only after it receives more indications that Hamas is willing to "soften its stance," an Israeli government official told Xinhua on Wednesday.
The official, who requires anonymity, said that Israel has yet to decide on sending a delegation for talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt. These discussions involve a potential ceasefire deal, which would require the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
"Hamas hasn't yet shown flexibility on the issue of the number of Palestinian prisoners who would be released" under a deal, the official said.
A meeting of US, Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian negotiators on a hostage release deal ended in Cairo earlier in February without a breakthrough.
More than 200 people in Israel were taken hostage on Oct 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people. To retaliate the movement's deadly attack, Israel launched a large-scale offensive in the Gaza Strip that has so far killed more than 29,000 Palestinians, according to figures released by both sides.
In November last year, Israel and Hamas conducted a hostage-for-prisoner swap under a fragile truce.
The United States exercised its veto power for the fourth time on Tuesday on the United Nations Security Council resolution that called for a cease-fire in Gaza in an attempt to halt fighting between Israel and Palestine.
The UN Council voted on the resolution proposed by Algeria on behalf of the Arab states. The draft resolution called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, the immediate release of all hostages, guaranteed access to humanitarian supplies, and the rejection of forced displacement. Unfortunately, the resolution did not pass due to a veto by the US.
China voted in favor of the draft resolution with 13 countries, while the United Kingdom abstained from voting. China expressed strong disappointment and dissatisfaction with the US veto.
"While the Council cease-fire resolution has been vetoed, innocent civilians in Gaza are dying in the fighting and struggling on the brink of death," Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jun said, adding the cease-fire is urgently required by the situation on the ground and it is also based on the minimum requirements of humanity. It deserves the support of all Council members, he said.
"The US claimed that the Council resolution would interfere with the ongoing diplomatic efforts. Such a claim is totally untenable. Given the situation on the ground, the continued passive avoidance of an immediate cease-fire is nothing different from giving a green light to the continued slaughter," Zhang said.
Zhang said the draft resolution of Algeria, demonstrating reason, sincerity, and an open attitude, held lengthy and extensive consultations with all parties and took on board many constructive ideas, making the draft resolution more balanced.
The US has exercised its veto power on the Gaza cease-fire issue for the fourth time, following its rejection of resolutions proposed by Brazil in October 2023, the United Arab Emirates in December, and a proposed amendment by Russia.
The outcome of today's vote clearly shows that on the issue of a cease-fire to halt the fighting in Gaza, it is not that the Security Council does not have an overwhelming consensus, but rather it is the exercise of veto by the US that stifles the consensus, he said.
The US veto sends a wrong message, pushing the situation in Gaza into a more dangerous one, said Zhang, expressing disappointment with the veto.
Zhang said the spillover effect of the conflict is destabilizing the entire Middle East region, leading to the increasing risk of a wider war, as the resolution has been vetoed. The basics of international law are being trampled upon, and the bedrock of the multilateral system is being eroded, he said.
"The Council must respond forcefully to the serious violations of international law and international humanitarian law in the Gaza conflict and uphold the authority of international rule of order," he added.
CAIRO - Egypt expressed deep regret on Tuesday for the inability of the United Nations Security Council to pass a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip after a US veto.
The United States earlier in the day vetoed a resolution submitted by Algeria for the Arab Group in New York calling for a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave, where more than 29,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct 7.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the outcome "has come to question the credibility of the rules and working mechanisms of the current international architecture, especially the Security Council, which is entrusted with the responsibility of preventing and settling conflicts and halting wars".
Egypt strongly denounced the "selectivity and double standards in dealing with wars and armed conflicts in various regions of the world", it noted.
The statement reiterated Egypt's commitment to ensure the sustainable delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and its rejection of any measures that would lead to the displacement of Palestinians outside their territories.
The ongoing Israeli air and ground strikes on Gaza came in retaliation to a surprise attack by Hamas, the Gaza-ruling faction, on Israel which killed about 1,200 people on Oct 7.
Algeria's draft resolution was backed by 13 out of the 15 Security Council members, while the United States vetoed against it and Britain abstained.
Before the vote on the draft resolution, US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the Algerian draft would jeopardize ongoing efforts toward a hostage deal. She said her delegation was working on a rival draft resolution that would call for a "temporary ceasefire" based on the formula that all hostages are released.
BRUSSELS - Twenty-six member states of the European Union (EU) called for an "immediate humanitarian pause that would lead to a sustainable ceasefire" in the besieged Gaza Strip, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said here on Monday.
At a meeting of EU foreign ministers, all EU countries except Hungary warned Israel against launching an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which they said would deepen the catastrophe of some 1.5 million refugees crammed into the city.
"An attack on Rafah would be absolutely catastrophic ... it would be unconscionable," Ireland's Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said before the meeting.
Israel's reported plans for an assault on the city have sounded international alarm bells, with many countries urging restraint or cancelation of the operation.
The latest call for Palestinian unity by Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh is expected to generate renewed efforts to realize the two-state solution and end the conflict in Gaza, experts say.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, Shtayyeh urged all Palestinian factions to engage in dialogue, as he stressed Palestinian unity "under any circumstances".
Tass reported that Russia has invited up to 14 organizations, including representatives of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, to an intra-Palestinian meeting in Moscow next week.
Shtayyeh was among many senior government officials and heads of state who attended the three-day security conference in the German city of Munich.
He told the forum that the Palestinian Authority was focused on the suffering of the Palestinians. He also called for an immediate cease-fire and for more international aid to be allowed into Gaza.
Hamas and Fatah are the two most dominant parties in Palestine's political landscape. The factions sparked renewed hope in the contentious path to achieving full Palestinian statehood when they met at an Egypt-hosted meeting in New Alamein City in July.
"We will see if Hamas is ready to come to ground with us. We are ready to engage. If Hamas is not going to ground with us, that's a different story. But we need Palestinian unity under any circumstances," Shtayyeh said.
Arhama Siddiqa, a Middle East analyst and research fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad in Pakistan, told China Daily "time has come for collective action, transcending individual interests, and steering toward the holistic development of the Palestinian people" with the reverberations of economic devastation echoing exponentially.
Jawaid Iqbal, chairman of the Department of West Asian and North African Studies at Aligarh Muslim University in India, said the possible integration of Hamas into the Palestine Liberation Organization framework is dependent upon the character of the national unity program that the Fatah-led PA is willing to undertake.
BEIRUT -- Israeli warplanes on Monday afternoon hit multiple targets in the southern town of Ghazieh with air-to-surface missiles, injuring 14 people, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua.
Ghazieh, adjacent to the southern city of Sidon, is around 45 km from Lebanon's capital city Beirut.
The sources, who spoke anonymously, said that Israeli warplanes carried out four airstrikes, including two raids targeting the industrial area behind Al-Rai private hospital and another two targeting the vicinity of a supermarket.
The sources added that the two raids that targeted the industrial area destroyed a factory that manufactures and assembles electric generators. Another tire factory and ten neighboring shops were also severely damaged.
The two raids in the vicinity of a supermarket destroyed an iron and aluminum manufacturing factory and damaged six commercial stores, according to the sources.
The raids also damaged a house inhabited by several Syrian workers, injuring 12 of them.
Meanwhile, two members of the civil defense teams were injured while extinguishing fires caused by the explosions, according to Lebanese military sources.
On Monday, Israeli warplanes launched 11 raids on six targets in the border area of southern Lebanon, destroying four homes and damaging 20 others, according to Lebanese security sources.
For its part, Hezbollah announced that its fighters attacked several Israeli sites, including the Al-Samaqa, Radar, and Ramtha sites, in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms, causing several casualties.
The Lebanon-Israel border has been witnessing increased tension since Oct. 8, 2023, after Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets toward Israel in support of the Hamas attack on Israel the previous day, prompting Israel to respond by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.
The confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel have killed 302 people on the Lebanese side, including 205 Hezbollah members and 57 civilians, according to Lebanese security sources.
RAMALLAH-- Two Palestinians were killed and an Israeli soldier was seriously wounded in a gun battle during an Israeli raid on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the dead as Nabil Amer, 19, and Mohammed Al-Awfi, 36, who were shot by Israeli troops in the Tulkarm camp. It said that Israel had seized Al-Awfi's body.
Palestinian security sources said Israeli forces entered the camp and cordoned it off, sparking clashes with local youths. They added that the Israeli troops surrounded a house in the camp, where they deployed snipers and helicopters.
Israeli public radio said the raid, carried out by the army, the police, and the Shin Bet security service, targeted a senior militant in Tulkarm and a senior Hamas official, along with three other suspects.
It said the police, acting on Shin Bet intelligence, arrested Al-Awfi, who the Israeli side said was a wanted man in Tulkarm and was involved in shooting attacks on Israeli forces and settlers. He was also suspected of killing Tulkarm residents who were accused of collaborating with Israel, the Israeli radio added.
The radio said Al-Awfi was killed after exchanging fire with the troops, who confiscated his weapons. It said another gunman was also killed and a third was wounded when they opened fire and threw explosives at the soldiers.
It said one Israeli soldier was seriously injured by gunfire and taken to hospital.
More than 395 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
GAZA - The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 28,985, the Hamas-run health ministry said on Sunday.
In a press statement sent to Xinhua, the ministry said that 68,883 Palestinians have been wounded in the coastal enclave since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict on Oct 7, 2023.
The Israeli army killed 127 Palestinians and wounded 205 others during the last 24 hours, the ministry added.
It noted that some victims remain under the rubble amid heavy bombardment and a lack of civil defense and ambulance crews.
In addition, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said that Al-Amal Hospital in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip witnessed several direct attacks from Israeli tanks.
The association said in a press statement that Israeli forces targeted the fourth floor, causing major material damage and setting the eastern side of the hospital on the blaze, which led to a patient being trapped with his companions, and the medical teams were able to evacuate them at very high risk.
The statement indicated that gunfire targeted the hospital's fuel tanks, and the crews were not able to determine the extent of the damage due to the high risk.
Israel has been launching a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.
GAZA -- At least 40 Palestinians were killed and many others injured on Saturday in Israeli airstrikes that targeted residential homes in the central Gaza Strip.
Palestinian medical sources told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes launched a series of violent raids on several homes in the areas of Nuseirat, Al-Zawaida, and Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, killing dozens of people and wounding many others.
The sources added that civil defense crews were able to recover 40 bodies, while dozens remained under the rubble, noting that the dead and wounded were transferred to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the city of Deir el-Balah.
BRUSSELS - The European Union (EU)'s foreign policy chief urged the Israeli government on Friday not to take military action in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, which shelters more than 1.3 million displaced Palestinians.
A military action in Rafah "would worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian situation and prevent the urgently needed provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance," Josep Borrell, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said in a statement.
The EU "reiterates the importance of ensuring the protection of all civilians at all times in line with International humanitarian law and to respect the Jan. 26 order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is legally binding," Borrell said.
On Jan. 26, the Hague-based ICJ ordered Israel to take all possible measures to prevent genocide acts in the Gaza Strip.
In his statement, Borrell said the EU recognizes the right of Israel to defend itself in line with international law and international humanitarian law. He also reiterated the EU's call on Hamas for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
Since Monday, Israel has launched airstrikes against Rafah and indicated that it is set to launch a ground operation in the city.
PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron and King Abdullah II of Jordan on Friday called for a two-state solution to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
"The only viable solution to meet the security needs of the Israeli people and the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people is the effective implementation of the two-state solution," Macron said at a joint press conference in Paris with King Abdullah II.
"The recognition of a Palestinian state is not a taboo for France," Macron said. "We owe it to the Palestinians, whose aspirations have been trampled for too long. We owe it to the Israelis, who have lived through the greatest anti-Semitic massacre of our century. We owe it to a region that aspires to escape promoters of chaos and sowers of revenge."
Macron insisted that an Israeli military offensive at Rafah would result in "an unprecedented humanitarian disaster and would be a turning point" for the conflicts in Gaza.
"I share the fears of Jordan and Egypt of a forced and massive displacement of the population. This would be another serious violation of international law and a major risk of regional escalation," he said, reiterating that the absolute priority is "to obtain an agreement on a ceasefire" in Gaza.
Meanwhile, King Abdullah II said the two countries are working together to "put an end to this war and to deal with this humanitarian catastrophe."
"We need to find a political solution that leads to peace, based on the creation of two states. This is the only way to guarantee peace and security for the Palestinians, for Israel, and for the region," he underlined.
The joint call for a cease-fire in Gaza against Israel's planned military operation in Rafah will resonate in the international community, reinforcing the urgency for humanitarian considerations in conflict zones, experts said.
In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said they were gravely concerned over reports on Israel's planned military operation in Rafah, the last place of refuge for Palestinian refugees.
"We are gravely concerned by indications that Israel is planning a ground offensive into Rafah. A military operation into Rafah would be catastrophic," it said. "About 1.5 million Palestinians are taking refuge in the area, including many of our citizens and their families. With the humanitarian situation in Gaza already dire, the impacts on Palestinian civilians from an expanded military operation would be devastating."
The prime ministers urged the Israeli government not to go down this path. "There is simply nowhere else for civilians to go," it continued, urging for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.
Colin Mackerras, emeritus professor at Griffith University in Australia, said the joint statement has a positive impact, as "those three prime ministers have been quite reluctant to oppose Israel and they have been pro-American".
"We have to oppose Israel invading," he said. "The fact is that this is going to cause a lot of civilian casualties. It's going to be mainly aimed at ordinary civilians. And I think it's very immoral."
Mackerras said it looks like a genocidal war that is being waged. "The reason why I said that is because it looks to be aimed against people of a particular nationality," Mackerras said. "Of course, they (the Israelis) say that it's all about opposing terrorism. To some extent, it is. But there are so many civilians killed or starved."
Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have been driven into Gaza's southernmost city by Israel's relentless military campaign, seeking shelter in a sprawling makeshift encampment near the Egypt border.
Despite pressure from foreign governments and aid agencies not to invade, Israel insists it must push into Rafah and eliminate Hamas.
French President Emmanuel Macron raised similar concerns in a phone call on Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the president's office said, saying further forced displacements of people could also bring regional escalation.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said before talks with Netanyahu that people in Rafah with nowhere to go "cannot simply vanish into thin air".
Should the Israeli assault on Rafah go ahead, the risk of atrocities is "serious, real and high", Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the United Nations special adviser on the prevention of genocide, said on Wednesday.
Fuat Emir Sefkatli, a researcher at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies in Turkiye, said the joint statement could "serve as a role model for Western countries in preventing the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and may trigger responses".
By collectively calling for a ceasefire and highlighting the catastrophic implications of military actions on civilians, these nations amplify the critical narrative that military solutions cannot resolve underlying political conflicts, he added.
Arhama Siddiqa, a research fellow at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad in Pakistan, said the joint communique reflects a growing disillusionment with Israel's actions.
"This sentiment underscores a notable shift in perspective, even among Israel's traditional allies, toward recognizing the severity of the Palestinian plight, identifying it as nothing short of genocide," she said.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts continued on Wednesday, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan making his first visit to Egypt in over a decade. He said Turkiye stood ready in cooperation with Egypt to help rebuild Gaza after the conflict.
The military offensive launched by Israel after Hamas' attack has killed at least 28,576 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 68,291 others, according to the Gaza-based Health Ministry. About 1,200 Israelis were killed by Hamas attacks on Oct 7, according to official Israeli figures.
Agencies and Xinhua contributed to this story.
