LAST UPDATE | 15 Mar
ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu has approved plans for a military operation in the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah, his office said.
Rafah is the last refuge for around 1.5 million people who have fled the Israeli bombardment and invasion in cities further north.
Governments around the world, including close allies like Germany and the United States, have spent weeks urging Netanyahu not to greenlight an invasion of Rafah but the Israeli leader has dismissed those calls.
No details of the planned operation were divulged by the Prime Minister’s office.
A statement said the Israeli military was “prepared for the operational side and for the evacuation of the population”.
There have been repeated warnings by UN aid agencies, NGOs and states – including Ireland – that a military assault on the city, which is among the most densely populated places on earth, would be catastrophic.
The Israeli intention to “evacuate” internally displaced Palestinians in Rafah has been met with fear and scepticism by many observers as there is nowhere left for them to go.
US President Joe Biden has previously said that an invasion of Rafah would be a “red line”, although State Department officials later walked those comments back and reaffirmed their continued support for Israel.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a visit to Vienna today that Washington had not seen any plans for a Rafah operation, but reiterated that it wants a “clear and implementable plan” to ensure civilians are “out of harm’s way”.
“We haven’t seen it. We certainly would welcome the opportunity to see it,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, adding that the United States could not support any plan without “credible” proposals to shelter more than one million Gazans.
The office of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas “expressed deep concern over an imminent Israeli military offensive in Rafah, which could result in a new massacre and further displacement of the Palestinian people in Gaza,” the official Wafa news agency reported.
“The presidency underscored the urgency for swift intervention by both the US administration and the international community to avert this military attack, which could add to the already immense suffering of the Palestinian people,” Wafa said.
The German foreign ministry said “a large-scale offensive in Rafah cannot be justified”.
“Over a million people have sought refuge there and have nowhere to go,” it said on X. “We need a humanitarian ceasefire now, so that the dying ends and the hostages are finally released.”
So far the Israeli siege, bombardment and invasion of Gaza has killed at least 31,341 people, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Earlier today, the first vessel carrying humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip via a new maritime corridor arrived on the coast of the besieged territory.
The ship is operated by Open Arms and the food on board was provided by World Central Kitchen, both NGOs.
“World Central Kitchen is unloading the barge connected now to the jetty,” said Linda Roth, a spokesperson for the group.
The Israeli military confirmed that the vessel, the Open Arms, had arrived in Gazan waters and said Israeli troops had “been deployed to secure the area”.
“The vessel underwent a comprehensive security inspection,” the military said.
“The ship contained 130 pallets of humanitarian equipment, 115 tons of food and water, which were transferred to 12 WCK trucks, which will distribute them to the northern Gaza Strip,” it said.
A handful of civilians had gathered on the rubble-strewn coast today to watch the vessel draw closer to shore.
Israel has been under increasing pressure to allow more aid into Gaza and former president Mary Robinson has today called for aid to be allowed in via land.
Over 20 organisations this week, including Amnesty International and Oxfam, warned that the sea missions and airdrops are “no alternative” to land deliveries.
Speaking to the News at One on RTÉ, Robinson called for the opening up of “every avenue, mainly land avenues” to allow for aid to flow into the region.
Robinson said she was speaking more so in her role as a member of The Elders than as former Ireland president.
The Elders is an international organisation of public figures noted as senior statespeople and human rights advocates, which was founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007.
Mary Robinson is the current chair of The Elders.
She also called on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to use his meeting with Joe Biden today to “send a political message in a very direct way”.
“The United States can influence Israel by not continuing to provide arms,” said Robinson.
“This government of (Israel) Prime Minister Netanyahu is on the wrong side of history and is making the United States complicit in reducing a people to famine, making the world complicit,” said Robinson.
“Now is the time to say very directly to President Biden, ‘take the risk of the political fallout during this election, or else you will lose whatever reputation you had.
“Our Taoiseach has access to say to him, ‘stop the arms supply’ that has been going on very solidly, and ‘stop the money’ so that Israel wakes up to its reality.”
Open Arms is a partner of the United States charity World Central Kitchen, which has a team in Gaza building a jetty onto which the cargo can be unloaded.
Cyprus, the Mediterranean nation which is the starting point for the maritime corridor, has said a second, bigger vessel is being readied to make the same journey.
The Open Arms vessel departed from Cyprus three days ago.
The health ministry in Gaza has in recent weeks recorded at least 27 deaths from malnutrition and dehydration, most of them children.
-With additional reporting from © AFP 2024 and David Mac Redmond
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