'Whatever they say,' Rafah operation will cause many casualties again, says EU's Borrell

LONDON

The EU foreign policy chief on Tuesday voiced his concern over the situation in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip city, saying the Israeli military offensive will again cause a lot of civilian casualties.

"The Rafah offensive has started again, in spite of all the requests of the international community, the US, the European Union member states, everybody asking (Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu not to attack," Josep Borrell said at the doorstep of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels.

Expressing his concerns, he said this is going to "cause again a lot of civilian casualties, whatever they say.

There are 600,000 children in Gaza, Borrell said, noting that they will be pushed to the "so-called safe zones," but he stressed that there are "no safe zones in Gaza."

Earlier on Monday, Israeli forces issued evacuation orders for Palestinians in the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah, a move widely viewed as a prelude to Israel's long-awaited attack on the city, which is home to some 1.5 million displaced Palestinians.

'Enough is enough'

When he touched on the situation on the ground, Borrell said the UN has the capacity to evaluate the situation there, criticizing Israel's attacks on journalists and the closure of Al Jazeera channel's offices.

"Sooner or later, the International Criminal Court (ICC) will have to say something," said Borrell, reacting to the statements about the ICC if the court will issue Israel arrest warrants.

"I fully condemn any kind of intimidation to the International Criminal Court. Enough is enough, threatening the International Criminal Court … fully rejectable," he noted.

Recalling that the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Borrell said "we applaud" that decision.

"So, either we respect the International Criminal Court or not, and we respect the ICC. It has to be in any case on any occasion with respect to anyone. So stop trying to intimidate the judges or the ICC."

Israel has waged a brutal military offensive on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a cross-border attack led by Hamas, which killed about 1,200 people.

Over 34,700 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and 78,200 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Nearly seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.