Macron, “outraged” by Israel’s strike on Rafah, calls for ceasefire
French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “outraged” over Israel’s strike on a camp for displaced people in Rafah on Sunday, which Gazan authorities say killed at least 45 people.
“These operations must stop. There are no safe areas in Rafah for Palestinian civilians,” Macron said Monday in a post on X.
“I call for full respect for international law and an immediate ceasefire,” Macron added.
The strikes happened days after Macron welcomed the Foreign Ministers of Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia in Paris for talks on the situation in Gaza.
Israel must implement ICJ ruling on halting Rafah offensive, says EU foreign policy chief
Israel must abide by the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) ruling to immediately halt its operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Monday.
“Unhappily, what we have seen in the immediate hours is that Israel continues the military action that it has been asked to stop,” Borrell said ahead of the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, where EU foreign ministers are meeting with Arab leaders to discuss Gaza and the Middle East.
Borrell added that Hamas launching rockets into Israel “doesn’t respect the rules of the world.” His comments follow Hamas claiming responsibility for firing rockets at Tel Aviv on Sunday.
He also said that Israel accusing the International Criminal Court (ICC) of antisemitism is “completely unacceptable.”
Last week, the ICC’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan said the court was seeking arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense minister Yoav Gallant, alongside three top Hamas leaders, including Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar.
Death toll from Rafah strike rises to 45, over 200 wounded, says Gaza Ministry of Health
The death toll from Israel’s airstrike on a displacement camp in Rafah has risen to 45, including over 200 wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The ministry said seven Israeli strikes killed 66 people across the Strip in the last 24 hours.
It said that in all 36,050 people have been killed and 81,026 injured since October 7.52 min ago
Turkey “will do everything” in its power to hold Israel accountable after Rafah strike, says Erdogan
From CNN’s Kareem Khadder and Zeena Saifi
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that his country “will do everything” in its power to hold Israeli officials accountable after Israel struck a displacement camp in Rafah.
“As Turkey, we will do everything in our power to hold these killers, who do not have a shred of humanity, accountable,” Erdogan said in a post on X.
Erdogan said the strike is “a massacre which took place after the International Court of Justice’s call to halt the attacks” and called Israel a “terrorist state.”
“As Netanyahu and his murder network fail to break the heroic resistance of the Palestinian people, they are becoming increasingly backed into a corner in their own country, trying to extend their political life by spilling more blood,” he added. “But they will soon see that this doesn’t do any good.”
EU aims to agree to proposal to relaunch EU border mission at Rafah crossing
The European Union aims to agree to a proposal to relaunch the EU border mission at the Rafah crossing point, on the southern Gaza border with Egypt, the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said Monday.
“[We] will put on the table a proposal to relaunch our Civilian Border System Mission in Rafah,” Borrell said ahead of an EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels. “But taking into account, that everything has to be in the direction of the Palestinian Authority taking responsibilities in Gaza.”
The EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) in Rafah has been in “standby mode” since 2007, when Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip. The mission was initially launched in 2005 to provide a third-party presence at the Rafah Crossing Point (RCP) on the Gaza-Egypt border.
German foreign minister says ICJ ruling on Gaza is “binding” and has “to be followed”
The order by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for Israel to halt its military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah is “binding” and has “to be followed,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Monday.
“These provisional measures of the ICJ, they are binding and of course they have to be followed,” she told journalists in Brussels ahead of the EU foreign ministers’ meeting.
“We are currently experiencing the opposite. There have been more rockets on Tel Aviv from Hamas. And at the same time we see that it is no gain for Israel’s security, that no hostage will be freed when right now people are being burned in tents.”
“International law, international humanitarian law, applies to everyone, including Israeli warfare,” Baerbock added.
Strained relations: The call from Germany, one of Israel’s foremost allies, represents the growing diplomatic pressure on Israel to rein in its military offensive in Gaza.
Germany has also been involved in legal challenges at the ICJ. Last month, Nicaragua accused Germany of “facilitating genocide” in Gaza and requested that the court order Germany to suspend weapons sales to Israel. The ICJ struck down Nicaragua’s demand by 15 votes to one.
Rafah reels from deadly Israeli airstrike on camp for displaced people. Here’s what you need to know
An Israeli strike on a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah killed dozens of people on Sunday. Video from the site showed scenes of horror: charred bodies being pulled from rubble, a man holding the headless body of a child, fire raging from tents in the background.
The strike, which Israel’s military claimed killed two senior Hamas officials, came just hours after the militant group fired rockets at Tel Aviv for the first time in months.
It prompted several countries to call on Israel to abide by the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which on Friday ordered Israel to “immediately halt” its military offensive in Rafah.
IDF prosecutor “committed” to seeing investigation into Rafah strike “through to conclusion”
The chief prosecutor for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the details of the Rafah strike are still under review, and that the IDF is “committed to seeing it through to conclusion.”
“Naturally, in a war of such scope and intensity, complex incidents also occur,” Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi told a conference hosted by the Israel Bar Association, according to an IDF statement.
“Some of the incidents, like last night’s incident in Rafah, are very difficult. The details of yesterday’s event are still under review, and we are committed to seeing it through to conclusion,” the prosecutor said.
She added that the “IDF regrets any harm to un-involved civilians during the war.”2 hr 26 min ago
Egypt condemns Israel’s deadly strike on Rafah
From CNN’s Mostafa Salem in Abu Dhabi
Egypt condemned Israel’s strike on Rafah in southern Gaza, in a foreign ministry statement Monday.
Israel’s strike targeted an area designated by Israel as a “safe zone” in Tal al-Sultan, northwest of Rafah, the Gaza government media office said.
In its statement, Egypt called on Israel to implement the measures issued Friday by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered Israel to “halt military operations” in Rafah and to “comply with its responsibilities as an occupying power.”
Egypt will host another round of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas on Tuesday.
CNN
