France, Egypt and Jordan warn Israel over Rafah

Egypt, Jordan and France have warned of “dangerous consequences” if Israel pushes ahead with its threatened Rafah offensive, according to Arab News and agencies on April 10.
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, King Abdullah, and President Emmanuel Macron demanded a Gaza ceasefire and implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions.
According to their joint statement, a two-state solution is the only way to achieve peace and security for both Palestinians and Israelis.
“The war in Gaza and the catastrophic humanitarian suffering it is causing must end now. Violence, terror and war cannot bring peace to the Middle East. The two-state solution will. It is the only credible path to guaranteeing peace and security for all and ensuring that neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis ever have to relive the horrors that have befallen them since the Oct. 7 attacks”, the three leaders wrote.
The statement was presented in a co-ordinated op-ed piece, published in Egyptian, Arab, French, and American newspapers.
Israeli PM Netanyahu stated on April 8 that “This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen – there is a date.”
But Rafah is home to over half of Gaza’s displaced population.
About 1.4 million Gazan citizens are seeking refuge in Gaza’s southern city, living in tents without running water or electricity for months. The city’s population numbered just 300,000 before Israel’s war with Hamas. British Foreign Secretary, David Cameron warned that it is “impossible to see how you can fight a war [in Rafah] amongst these people, there is nowhere for them to go”.
READ: Netanyahu sets date for controversial Rafah offensive
Meanwhile, April has seen an escalation in violence.
Israel struck the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria on April 1. Iran vowed to hit back “harshly” prompting Israel to prepare for a counterattack, with the country on “high alert”.
The deaths of seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers by an Israeli airstrike also prompted Biden to criticize Israel’s actions as “unacceptable”. In addition, former House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, recently urged Biden to prevent further weapons sales to Israel.
Egypt, Jordan and France outlined the need to return all hostages, increase humanitarian aid to Gaza, warning that an Israeli invasion of Rafah “will only bring more death and suffering, heighten the risks and consequences of mass forcible displacement of the people of Gaza, and threaten regional escalation.”
Israel pulled its forces out of the southern Gaza strip on April 11 “to prepare for future operations”.
While the move has given tentative hope for displaced Gazans to potentially return to their homes, PM Netanyahu insisted Israel is nonetheless “determined” to continue an assault into Rafah.
Arab News / Agencies