g7-foreign-ministers-write-to-israel-katz-demanding-halt-to-rafah-offensive

Foreign ministers of 13 countries have demanded an immediate halt to the ground assault of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, enabling more supplies to reach the Palestinian population. 

According to a report in Germany's top media outlet, all members of the Group of Seven (G7) major industrialised nations, except the United States, signed the four-page letter dated Wednesday.

 

In a letter to their Israeli counterpart Israel Katz, the foreign ministers urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to address Gaza's devastating and worsening humanitarian crisis by opening all border crossings for aid supplies, including the Rafah crossing with Egypt, which is under Israeli military control.

The letter was signed by the foreign ministers of the G7 countries: Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, and Canada, as well as their counterparts in Australia, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, and Sweden.

 

Meanwhile, the health ministry in Gaza said the death toll in the ongoing Gaza invasion had crossed the 35,000 mark, excluding those buried under the rubble whose bodies are yet to be retrieved.

 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said  the Gaza bombardment has been the "deadliest conflict" in terms of speed and scale during his time in office, yet "the toll on civilians continues to escalate."

 

In a post on X, Guterres said any assault on Rafah was unacceptable and would inflict more misery when there was need for life-saving aid.

 

In another development, gunshots were reportedly heard near the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, on Friday.

 

"A police patrol at Strandvagen in Stockholm heard shots and suspected there had been a shooting," a post said on a police website, adding that the incident occurred between the capital's Djurgarden Bridge, Nobel Park, and the Oscar Church.

 

Several people had been detained, and an investigation into a possible major weapons crime has begun, they said.