In Israel, the right wing has hinted at the possibility of moving the Palestinians out of Gaza. The proposals have met with widespread opposition.
The US opposes the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza, the country’s foreign minister Antony Blinken says.
According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Blinken was spoken to by the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukryn with about the situation in the area on the phone on Thursday.
Blinken told his Egyptian counterpart that the United States still does not support a large-scale military operation in Rafah, in the southern part of Gaza, and does not accept the forced relocation of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
UNRWA, the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees, said on Thursday that around 80,000 people had fled Rafah in the three days before Israel began what it described as a limited operation there.
There are well over two million people in Rafah who have fled Israel’s military operations from other parts of the strip. Israel has ordered people to leave the eastern parts of the city.
In Israel, the right wing has hinted at the possibility of moving the Palestinians out of Gaza. The proposals have met with widespread opposition from, among others, the Palestinian Authority and Arab states.
UN: Aid operations impossible in Kerem Shalom
In connection with this week’s operation, Israel took over the Rafah border crossing.
Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Matthew Miller Blinken also said in his phone call that the United States supports the opening of the Rafah border crossing and the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian aid to the region.
The UN has demanded that Israel open the Rafah border crossing for aid deliveries immediately. The Rafah border crossing is the main route for humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
Israel closed the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Sunday after a rocket attack by the extremist group Hamas, but the Israeli Armed Forces said on Wednesday it had reopened the border crossing for aid deliveries.
Head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian Territories Andrea De Domenico however, has told the news agency AFP that the military activity at Kerem Shalom has made aid deliveries practically impossible.