Australia PM Anthony Albanese urges Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu to avoid Rafah invasion
Sydney, AUSTRALIA (EFE/DT) – Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday that he had asked his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, to avoid a ground invasion of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip due to the humanitarian consequences on thousands of displaced Palestinians.
“I have directly put to Prime Minister Netanyahu Australia’s concern about a ground invasion of Rafah,” Albanese said at a press conference.
The international community has urged Israel to avoid an invasion of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled during the war.
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The Australian leader spoke on the telephone with Netanyahu last week following the killing of seven aid workers of the nonprofit World Central Kitchen in Gaza, including an Australian, during an Israeli airstrike.
Since then, Canberra has stepped up pressure on the Israeli authorities.
“The consequences that would be there for the civilian population who, of course, were told in Gaza to go south from the north to the center, were then told to go to the center to the south, and are now confronting a potential ground invasion there,” Albanese said on public broadcaster ABC.
The last conversation between Mr Albanese and Mr Netanyahu was last week, after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) launched a deadly air strike on an aid convoy, claiming seven lives.
“We’re very concerned about the humanitarian consequences, as are like-minded countries including the United States,” he added.
On Monday, Netanyahu said that there was already a “date” for the Israeli invasion of Rafah.
“This victory requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen – there is a date,” he said in a video message without specifying for when the invasion was planned.
Israel declared war on Hamas in Gaza following an attack in southern Israeli towns on Oct. 7 by the Islamist group.
Hamas killed at least 1,200 people during the attack, while the Israeli military’s brutal response has claimed the lives of more than 32,620 civilians in Gaza, including 13,000 children.