https://arab.news/j5phc
- Keir Starmer calls for 鈥榠mmediate ceasefire, release of hostages, unimpeded aid into Gaza鈥�
- Israeli defense minister warns of 鈥榩owerful operation in very near future鈥�
LONDON: An Israeli offensive in the Gazan city of Rafah 鈥渕ust not go ahead,鈥� the leader of the UK鈥檚 main opposition Labour Party said on Monday.
Keir Starmer鈥檚 comments came after the Israeli military told Palestinian civilians in the area to leave ahead of a planned offensive.
鈥淲ith more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering in Rafah, an Israeli offensive must not go ahead,鈥� Starmer wrote on X.
鈥淭here must be an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of all hostages, and unimpeded aid into Gaza that can be delivered regularly, quickly and safely.鈥�
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Sunday of 鈥渁 powerful operation in the very near future in Rafah.鈥�
Starmer was echoed by his Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who posted on X that an invasion of Rafah 鈥渨ould be catastrophic.鈥�
Shadow International Development Secretary Lisa Nandy warned that people trapped in Rafah 鈥渉ave nowhere else to go.鈥�
So far, at least 34,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war last October.