<div style="text-align: justify; "><b><br></b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Thirteen western countries, including many traditionally supportive of Israel, appealed to it today not to launch a large-scale offensive on Rafah.</span><br></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We reiterate our opposition to a full-scale military operation in Rafah that would have catastrophic consequences on the civilian population,” read the appeal, sent by the countries’ foreign ministers to their Israeli counterpart Israel Katz and made public.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The signatories were Australia, Britain, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and EU member states Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The ministers welcomed recent measures adopted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet to improve the flow of international aid into Gaza, but called for “further steps”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We urge the government of Israel to let the humanitarian aid enter into the Gaza strip through all relevant crossing points, including the one in Rafah,” they said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They called on Israel to take “concrete action for the protection of civilians, international and local humanitarian aid workers and journalists”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The appeal also called for “a sustainable ceasefire”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The ministers urged Israel to “open all possible overland supply routes into Gaza” for aid, to “resume electricity, water and telecommunication services”, and boost significantly “the supply of critically needed goods … particularly medical supplies”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Finally, they called on Israel to “facilitate further evacuations by issuing exit permits for all our citizens, eligible persons, and Palestinians admitted to relocate for humanitarian or medical reasons abroad”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Eight months after the start of the war, Israel is vowing to intensify its ground offensive in Rafah despite international concerns for the hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in the southern city.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Israeli siege of Gaza has brought dire shortages of food as well as safe water, medicines and fuel for its 2.4 million people. - AFP </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/fas</div>