IDNAround.com – Rafah under deadly Israeli attack. The southernmost region of the Palestinian Gaza Strip has become dangerous even though it is an area where refugees from all over Gaza are looking for safety. All the eyes of the world are focused on Rafah.
Israel’s deadly attack on Rafah, the first in recent times, occurred last Sunday (26/5). AFP reported that the Israeli army said it was targeting Hamas in Rafah. But in reality, the refugee tents caught fire.
The Palestinians said 50 people were killed and 249 people were injured as a result of the Israeli attacks at that time. However, it turned out that it was not a one-off attack. There was a second attack.
Tuesday (28/5) local time, Israel attacked Rafah again. Gaza authorities reported that at least 21 people were killed as a result of the Zionist aggression.
Israel’s attack on Rafah began several days after the International Court of Justice or ICJ ordered Tel Aviv to immediately stop its attacks on Rafah. The Israeli authorities rejected the ICJ’s order by insisting that its attack on Rafah did not pose a risk of annihilating Palestinian civilians there.
All eyes on Rafah
International concern about the Israeli attack on Rafah, which has been going on for the past three weeks, has turned into anger after the bombing since Sunday (26/5) local time.
Reported by Forbes, the phrase ‘all eyes on Rafah’ is a call to the world community to pay attention to the attack on Rafah in Gaza, Palestine. The phrase ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ was used on social media to draw public attention to the atrocities that occurred.
The slogan ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ appears to stem from comments by Rick Peeperkorn, director of the Office of the Occupied Palestinian Territories at the World Health Organization, who in February said “All eyes are on Rafah” days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an evacuation plan for the city This is ahead of a planned offensive to eliminate what Netanyahu claims is the last remaining stronghold of the Hamas militant group.
The phrase was intended as a plea for observers not to look away from what is happening in the city of Rafah – where as many as 1.4 million people have taken refuge after fleeing heavy fighting elsewhere in Gaza – as Israel continues its offensive despite the presence of many civilians .
International reaction
At the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, Algeria is preparing to submit a draft resolution calling for an end to the attacks on Rafah. Reported by AFP, Wednesday (29/5/2024), Algeria has requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council (DK) to be held on Tuesday (28/5), after the Israeli attack on Rafah occurred.
China’s Ambassador to the UN, Fu Cong, hopes that a vote will be held soon on the draft from Algeria. The thing is, Rafah couldn’t wait any longer. This was also conveyed by France.
“It is time for this council to take action. This is a matter of life and death. This is an emergency matter,” said the French Ambassador to the UN, Nicolas de Riviere, before the UN Security Council meeting was held.
When asked about the latest draft resolution submitted by Algeria, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: “We are waiting to see it and then we will react.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the Islamic world to unite for Rafah. He said Israel was a real danger to all parties. The Zionist regime seems to be immune from international law. The UN cannot even protect its own staff against Israel’s dangers.
“Israel is not only a threat to Gaza but to all humanity,” Erdogan said as reported by AFP.
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, emphasized that Israel would not exist without the existence of Palestine. “(Israel’s) security is achieved by building a Palestinian state,” he said, reported by the Palestinian news agency, WAFA.
Israel is still arguing
Israel denies attacking the refugee zone in Rafah. Reported by Reuters, the Israeli military argued that the facts contradicted general reports regarding Rafah.
“Contrary to reports in the last few hours, we (Israeli troops) did not attack the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi,” stressed the Israeli military in a statement, reported by Reuters and Al Arabiya, Wednesday (29/2024).
The statement was released when Israeli military tanks were reported to be moving towards the city center in the southern Gaza Strip for the first time after carrying out bombings that claimed dozens of lives on Sunday (26/5) local time.
Israeli troops began carrying out ground operations against Rafah, which is a refuge for more than one million Palestinian refugees, since early May.
Two days after Tel Aviv’s assault on Rafah sparked global condemnation, Gaza emergency services authorities reported four tank shells hitting a number of refugee tents in Al-Mawasi, a coastal area that the Israeli military has advised civilians to evacuate immediately.
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