EU warns Israel against 'catastrophic' Rafah offensive

The European Union on Monday warned Israel against launching an offensive in Rafah that the bloc's foreign ministers said would create a disaster for the roughly 1.5 million refugees crammed into the city on the southern edge of Gaza. "An attack on Rafah would be absolutely catastrophic ... it would be unconscionable," Ireland's Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said before a meeting with foreign ministers from the 27 EU member states in Brussels.

After the talks ended, the bloc's top diplomat Josep Borrell said 26 of the EU's 27 countries agreed to a statement warning against any attack on Rafah and calling for "an immediate humanitarian pause that would lead to a sustainable ceasefire, to the unconditional release of hostages, and to the provision of humanitarian assistance." Borrell did not name the country that did not agree to the text but diplomats said Hungary blocked a similar statement a few days ago.

Israel is preparing to mount a ground invasion of Gaza's southernmost city, which it has called a last bastion of Hamas control after nearly five months of fighting, Israel accuses Hamas fighters of hiding among civilians, something the militant group denies, and says "extraordinary measures" were being taken to avoid civilian casualties.

But Borrell said it would be impossible to prevent civilian deaths. "We have to continue putting pressure on Israel to make them understand that there are so many people in the streets of Rafah, it will be impossible to avoid civilian casualties," he said.

"This, certainly, will be against the respect of humanitarian law." German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also called on Israel to respect humanitarian law, but said that Israel had the "right to self-defence" as it was clear that Hamas fighters were still operating from Rafah.

"The most important thing would be that Hamas would lay down its weapons," she said while repeating her call for a "humanitarian ceasefire" to allow refugees to return to the "Over a million people went to the south of Gaza because the IDF told them so. They can't just disappear in the sky."