Israel persists in its plan for a large-scale offensive in Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are hiding, despite further international warnings on Thursday and negotiations in the background for a truce in Gaza with Hamas. Three Commonwealth countries have warned the Jewish state against a “catastrophic” operation in Rafah. The Israeli government has authorized Starlink on its territory.
After the United States, Israel’s main ally, which says it opposes an offensive on Rafah without “guarantees” for the safety of civilians, Australia, Canada and New Zealand warned the government on Thursday Netanyahu warns of “catastrophic” operation in Rafah.
“There is simply nowhere to go” for the approximately 1.5 million Palestinians stuck at the border, underline these three Commonwealth countries, urging the Israeli Prime Minister “not to go down this path” .
The Israeli government announced on Wednesday that it had authorized the use of the Starlink satellite internet access service, owned by Elon Musk, on its territory, as well as for a field hospital managed by the United Arab Emirates in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
In November, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi announced an agreement in principle on the use of Starlink in Israel and Gaza. Israel authorizes less than half of World Health Organization (WHO) missions to deliver aid to Gaza while hospitals there are “completely overwhelmed”, a WHO official lamented on Wednesday. Dr. Rik Peeperkorn.
Israel also launched strikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday which left at least eleven dead, according to Lebanese sources, in retaliation for shots which killed a soldier, raising renewed fears of a regional contagion of the war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas, in power in Gaza.
