German officials, lawmakers concerned over Israeli military incursion into Rafah

BERLIN

German officials and lawmakers said on Tuesday that they are concerned about Israel’s planned ground offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

“We all view with concern ... the news that there is further movement towards Rafah,” said Jochen Flasbarth, the deputy economic cooperation and development minister.

“We have all said that Israel must respect international law even in this war situation and we hope that this will happen,” German news agency dpa quoted Flasbarth as saying.

Flasbarth’s remarks were underscored by two lawmakers of the co-ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the opposition The Left (Die Linke) party, Keremby Diaby and Bernd Riexinger.

“We must use all diplomatic and political means to work towards a ceasefire and finally the release of all hostages. An offensive on Rafah will only bring more suffering and destruction and worsen supply shortages,” Diaby wrote on X.

Riexinger warned of another imminent Israeli “crime against the Palestinian population.”

“With the evacuation of Rafah, the next major crime against the Palestinian population is looming. Where should the 100,000 people (said to be leaving Rafah) go? Gaza is largely destroyed and Netanyahu obviously doesn't want to be stopped from razing the last intact city to the ground. The humanitarian catastrophe has long been unbearable,” he said on X.

Israeli tanks took over the Rafah crossing at Gaza’s border with Egypt after advancing during the night as their warplanes pounded residential homes.

The incursion comes after Israel said it would continue its military operations in Rafah even after Hamas announced that it had accepted a Gaza cease-fire proposal put forward by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

On Monday, the German government once again called on Israel to refrain from a large-scale ground attack on Rafah.

“The federal government and the foreign minister have already said repeatedly in the past that a large-scale ground offensive on Rafah would be a humanitarian catastrophe, and indeed a humanitarian catastrophe with consequences,” deputy Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kathrin Deschauer told reporters in Berlin.

Berlin has “warned and advised against such a large-scale offensive,” she added.

Deschauer warned that an Israeli ground attack on Rafah could endanger the ongoing Gaza cease-fire negotiations.

“The federal government's position is that the negotiations must not be jeopardized and all sides must make maximum efforts” to ensure the success of the talks, she added.

Despite opposition by the international community, Israel has reportedly begun evacuating some neighborhoods in Rafah, where approximately 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have taken refuge in the southern Gaza Strip.

The German government has yet to react to Israel’s rejection of the Gaza cease-fire deal which was accepted by Palestinian group Hamas.