The African Union has condemned the Israeli military’s moves into southern Gaza’s Rafah, calling for the international community to stop “this deadly escalation” of the war.
AU Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat stated this on Wednesday after Israeli tanks captured the key corridor for humanitarian aid into the besieged Palestinian territory.
Since Monday, Rafah has been experiencing intensified Israeli airstrikes and shelling in all its areas, including residential areas.
The Israeli army on Tuesday started its invasion into the eastern area of Rafah under which the Israeli army stormed and occupied the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, closing Gazan Palestinians’ only gateway with the world.
Mahamat said Israel’s war in Gaza has resulted “at every moment, in massive deaths, systematic destruction and loss of human life”.
“He expresses his extreme concern at the war undertaken by Israel in Gaza which results, at every moment, in massive deaths and systematic destruction of the conditions of human life”, the statement said.
Also, “He calls on the entire international community to effectively coordinate collective action to stop this deadly escalation.”
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas which killed about 1,200 people. Nearly 34,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, and 78,100 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is “plausible” that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
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