Cameron ‘Deeply Concerned’ About Planned Israeli Military Offensive In Rafah
Lord David Cameron has said he is “deeply concerned” about a planned Israeli ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.Rafah, on the southern border with Egypt, is one of the only regions not yet targeted by an Israeli ground offensive and is providing refuge to more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population.It is the last remaining stronghold for Hamas fighters in Gaza, according to Israel, after more than four months of conflict triggered by the militant group’s deadly October 7 attack on Israel.The Foreign Secretary wrote on X: “Deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah – over half of Gaza’s population are sheltering in the area.“The priority must be an immediate pause in the fighting to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire.”
Transcript
00:00 Very concerned about what is happening in Rafa, because let's be clear, the people there,
00:04 many of them have moved four, five, six times before getting there, and it really, we think,
00:10 is impossible to see how you can fight a war amongst these people.
00:15 There's nowhere for them to go.
00:17 They can't go south into Egypt.
00:19 They can't go north and back to their homes, because many have been destroyed.
00:22 So we are very concerned about the situation, and we want Israel to stop and think very
00:27 seriously before it takes any further action.
00:29 But above all, what we want is an immediate pause in the fighting, and we want that pause
00:35 to lead to a ceasefire, a sustainable ceasefire, without a return to further fighting.
00:41 That's what should happen now.
00:43 We need to get those hostages out, including the British nationals.
00:46 We need to get the aid in.
00:47 The best way to do that is stop the fighting now and turn that into a permanent, sustainable
00:52 ceasefire.
00:52 [BLANK_AUDIO]