Israel rejects international calls to spare Rafah
Published: 04:02 PM,Feb 18,2024 | EDITED : 08:02 PM,Feb 18,2024
Palestinians gather near a crater at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, February 18, 2024.
GAZA: Prospects for Gaza ceasefire dimmed on Sunday after the United States signalled it would veto the latest push for a UN Security Council resolution and mediator Qatar acknowledged that separate truce talks have hit an impasse.
Efforts to pause the over four-month-old war languish as Netanyahu vowed to reject international appeals to spare Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, where around 1.4 million people have sought refuge.
Israel's relentless campaign has edged closer to the city, with attacks killing at least 10 people there and in central Gaza's Deir al-Balah overnight to Sunday, according to official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
A total of 127 people died over the previous 24 hours, the health ministry in Gaza said on Sunday.
Israel's retaliatory bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza have killed at least 28,985 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry.
Egypt, which controls the Rafah border crossing from Gaza, has repeatedly warned against any 'forced displacement' of Palestinians into the Sinai desert.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday reiterated his opposition. In a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, both leaders agreed instead on the 'necessity of the swift advancement of a ceasefire'.
Even if a temporary truce deal is struck, Netanyahu said the ground invasion of Rafah will go ahead.
Netanyahu spoke as thousands protested in Tel Aviv, the latest public call for an immediate election. They also accused the government of abandoning the captives.
'Take politics out of decisions about our loved ones' lives,' demanded Nissan Calderon, brother of hostage Ofer Calderon. 'This is the moment of truth. There won't be many more like it if the Cairo initiative collapses.'
Next week's possible United Nations Security Council vote appears unlikely to advance the ceasefire effort, with Washington already voicing opposition.
'The United States does not support action on this draft resolution,' said US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield. 'Should it come up for a vote as drafted, it will not be adopted.'
Algeria's draft resolution seeks an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, but Thomas-Greenfield said the United States instead supports a truce-for-captives deal that would pause fighting for six weeks.
US President Joe Biden had 'multiple calls' with Netanyahu as well as Egyptian and Qatari leaders this week 'to push this deal forward', she said.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani called those talks 'not very promising'.
He said the efforts had been complicated by the insistence of 'a lot of countries' that any new truce involve further releases of captives. — AFP
Efforts to pause the over four-month-old war languish as Netanyahu vowed to reject international appeals to spare Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, where around 1.4 million people have sought refuge.
Israel's relentless campaign has edged closer to the city, with attacks killing at least 10 people there and in central Gaza's Deir al-Balah overnight to Sunday, according to official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
A total of 127 people died over the previous 24 hours, the health ministry in Gaza said on Sunday.
Israel's retaliatory bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza have killed at least 28,985 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry.
Egypt, which controls the Rafah border crossing from Gaza, has repeatedly warned against any 'forced displacement' of Palestinians into the Sinai desert.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday reiterated his opposition. In a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, both leaders agreed instead on the 'necessity of the swift advancement of a ceasefire'.
Even if a temporary truce deal is struck, Netanyahu said the ground invasion of Rafah will go ahead.
Netanyahu spoke as thousands protested in Tel Aviv, the latest public call for an immediate election. They also accused the government of abandoning the captives.
'Take politics out of decisions about our loved ones' lives,' demanded Nissan Calderon, brother of hostage Ofer Calderon. 'This is the moment of truth. There won't be many more like it if the Cairo initiative collapses.'
Next week's possible United Nations Security Council vote appears unlikely to advance the ceasefire effort, with Washington already voicing opposition.
'The United States does not support action on this draft resolution,' said US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield. 'Should it come up for a vote as drafted, it will not be adopted.'
Algeria's draft resolution seeks an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, but Thomas-Greenfield said the United States instead supports a truce-for-captives deal that would pause fighting for six weeks.
US President Joe Biden had 'multiple calls' with Netanyahu as well as Egyptian and Qatari leaders this week 'to push this deal forward', she said.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani called those talks 'not very promising'.
He said the efforts had been complicated by the insistence of 'a lot of countries' that any new truce involve further releases of captives. — AFP