In separate statements, China, Japan, and Australia joined the international campaign this Tuesday to rebuke Israel air attacks against the heavily populated Rafah city in the South of Gaza.
Following the deadly attacks by the Israeli military against civilians in the city of Rafah located in the Sothern parts of Gaza, hundreds of countries around the world lashed out at the move and condemned Israel for dropping bombs on an area where more than one million Palestinian refugees currently live.
It was in the early hours of this Monday that the Israeli army carried out about 40 airstrikes mostly targeting civilian homes, mosques, and hospitals on the city. The attacks took the lives of more than 100 civilians and injured hundreds more.
The bloody story of Israel’s new round of aggression against Palestinians in Palestinian lands, which began on October 7, has so far left up to 30,000 Palestinians dead, most of whom being women and children, and well over 67,000 injured, according to Palestinian health Ministry.
China
A day after the Rafah attacks, China’s Foreign Ministry reacted and formally condemned “the Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians in Rafah,” calling on Israel to immediately stop its military operations there.
“China is closely watching the developments in Rafah,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday, adding that his country “oppose and condemn acts against civilians and international law. We call on Israel to stop military operations as soon as possible, do everything possible to avoid casualties among innocent civilians, and prevent a more devastating humanitarian disaster in Rafah.”
Japan
For its part, Japan also condemned Israel’s airstrikes against civilians in Rafah, noting that the city is an where lots of humanitarian supplies are delivered to Palestinians and it should not be targeted by such attacks.
Releasing a statement this Tuesday, the Japanese foreign ministry said that “Japan is deeply concerned about the reports of an Israeli military operation in Rafah in the Gaza Strip,” adding also that “over one million Palestinian people in Gaza have been displaced in Rafah, which is a particularly important location for the delivery of humanitarian supplies.”
The ministry also noted that “given the dire humanitarian situation and the growing number of civilian casualties – including among women, children, and the elderly – crucial steps must be taken to ensure the situation does not deteriorate any further and allow for humanitarian activities to be carried out properly.”
Australia
Likewise, Australia also joined the anti-war campaign against Rafah and warned Israel against further aggression in the city in the south of Gaza
Condemning the attacks on Monday, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong wrote in a post on social media that any escalation would lead to “devastating consequences” for the 1.3 million Palestinians displaced there.
“153 countries, including Australia, have already called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” Wong said in a tweet Tuesday. “Now many of Israel’s friends are expressing deep concerns about reports of an Israeli military operation in Rafah. This would have devastating consequences for civilians,” she added.
“What Australia would say is that Israel must now exercise special care in relation to these civilians,” the Australian foreign minister concluded.
But Monday’s attacks by Israel is just the beginning of this horrible and inhumane story. A few hours after the attacks on the same day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly asserted in a televised address that Israel is planning to carry out a ground operation in Rafah, one of the most populated spots in the world. The reason for the attacks, as Netanyahu claimed, was that Israel believes the city is where four Hamas brigades are currently located.
“The Nazi occupation army’s attack on the city of Rafah tonight … which [has] claimed the lives of more than a hundred martyrs so far, is considered a continuation of the genocidal war and the attempts at forced displacement it is waging against our Palestinian people,” Hamas said in a statement Monday, condemning Israel’s air attacks on Rafah.
