UN says looming Rafah incursion would break Gaza aid distribution
Speaking to reporters in Geneva via video link from Jerusalem, UN official Jamie McGoldrick said the organisation’s humanitarian body could not plan its Gaza aid operation for more than two or three days ahead because of conditions he described as uncertain and unstable.
“It would be a really difficult scenario for us to envisage the possibility of hundreds of thousands of people being forced from Rafah because of the incursion,” he said. “We are not in a position to contingency plan that. We’re not in a position to pre-position shelter, material, food, medical supplies and especially water … It will be a real problem for us.”
Defying international calls to halt its military operation, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to push into Rafah on the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, where more than half of the enclave’s 2.3 million residents have been sheltering in makeshift tents to escape the Israeli assault farther north.
“If there was to be an incursion, that [aid] system we have, which is already precarious and intermittent, would then be broken,” said McGoldrick.
Israel to send interagency team to Washington to discuss Rafah: White House
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to send a team of Israeli officials to Washington to discuss with Biden administration officials a prospective Rafah operation, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
“We’ve arrived at a point where each side has been making clear to the other its perspective,” Sullivan said.
Netanyahu has pushed for a ground operation into Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been sheltering, despite international calls saying such a move would be “catastrophic”.
Palestinian recognition would ‘ultimately reward terrorism’, Gantz tells Canada
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has spoken on the phone with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after the New Democratic Party in Canada pushed legislation in the country’s parliament to “officially recognise” the State of Palestine.
“I expressed that unilateral recognition, particularly following the 7th of October, is counterproductive to the mutual goal of long-term regional security and stability, and would ultimately reward terrorism,” Gantz said. “I reiterated to the PM that for the sake of the region, any unilateral actions should be avoided,” Gantz said, also thanking the Israel ally for “his personal commitment to Israel’s security”.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Monday that Canada will continue to back a two-state solution but will not change its overall foreign policy based on the legislation.
I spoke today with Canadian Prime Minister @JustinTrudeau.
I conveyed my appreciation to The Prime Minister for his personal commitment to Israel’s security.
In light of the upcoming vote in Canada’s parliament calling for the unilateral recognision of a Palestinian State, I…
— בני גנץ - Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) March 18, 2024
I wish Trudeau had the balls to tell Gantz, recognizing Israel is ultimately rewarding occupation, apartheid and genocide. 'Terrorism' is a result of occupation, injustice, apartheid, ongoing displacement, destruction of Palestinian property, destruction of Palestinian infrastructure, unlawful detention, nightly raids and so on.
But Canada continues to follow the USA, say one thing, back the genocide anyway.
