US criticism of Israel ‘inadequate’ – Egypt

Washington must explain to Israel what the consequences would be of a ground incursion into Rafah, the southern Gaza city currently hosting more than a million displaced Palestinians, Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, said on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday that he had approved plans for an operation in Rafah. Israel has been conducting a relentless air and ground campaign in Gaza for more than five months after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on the Jewish state on October 7, killing 1,100 people and kidnapping 250 others. According to the most recent figures released by the enclave’s Health Ministry, Israeli forces have killed nearly 32,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom were women and children.

There has been significant international pressure on Netanyahu, including from the US and Egypt, not to enter Rafah, where the UN estimates 1.5 million Palestinians have sought refuge since the start of the war.

Earlier this month, US President Joe Biden, who has repeatedly defended Israel’s military actions, told MSNBC TV that while Netanyahu “has a right to defend Israel,” an operation in Rafah would cross a “red line.” 

“It is not enough for rhetoric, it is not enough to state opposition, it is also important to indicate what if that position is circumvented, what if that position is not respected,” Reuters quoted the Egyptian foreign minister as saying.

Shoukry made the statement during a news conference in Cairo with the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini.

“It is also up to the international community and the United States, who have indicated their refusal to such an eventuality, to make clear what are the consequences if their appeals are not heeded,” he added.

There has been widespread concern that Israel’s planned ground offensive on Rafah will force thousands of people to cross into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. The North African nation has previously warned of the catastrophic implications of such a move near its borders. Israeli strikes at Gaza border crossings are already disrupting humanitarian shipments.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization, in its latest report, projected that famine is imminent in the Palestinian territory as 1.1 million people – half of Gaza’s population – are experiencing catastrophic food insecurity.