Israel should “stop and think seriously” before taking further action in Rafah in the south of Gaza, the Foreign Secretary has said.
The town was hit by airstrikes overnight, with Israel signalling its intention to carry out a ground offensive in the area.
Lord David Cameron said many of the people in Rafah had already fled from other areas.
“It is impossible to see how you can fight a war amongst these people, there is nowhere for them to go”, Cameron said
The prime minister’s official spokesman expressed “deep concern” about the possibility of a military offensive in Rafah.
The town, which borders Egypt, was one of the few areas that had not yet been targeted by an Israeli ground offensive.
It is sheltering more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents who have fled fighting elsewhere.
Speaking to reporters in East Kilbride, Scotland, Cameron stated: “We are very concerned about what is happening in Rafah because, to be clear.
Many of the people who live there have moved four, five, or six times before.
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“It, we think, is impossible to see how you can fight a war amongst these people, there is nowhere for them to go.
“They cannot go south into Egypt; they can’t go north and back to their homes because many have been destroyed.
“So we are very concerned about the situation and we want Israel to stop and think seriously before it takes any further action.
“But above all, what we want is an immediate pause in the fighting. We want that pause to lead to a ceasefire, a sustainable ceasefire without a return to further fighting. That is what should happen now”, he said.
He added: “We need to get those hostages out, including the British nationals.
“We need to get the aid in. The best way to do that is to stop the fighting now and turn that into a permanent, sustainable ceasefire”.
The prime minister’s official spokesman stated that he was deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah.
“Over half of Gaza’s population are sheltering there and that crossing is vital to ensuring aid can reach the people who desperately need it”, he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said sending troops into Rafah was necessary to eliminate Hamas.
He announced on Friday that he had asked the military to prepare to enter Rafah and evacuate hundreds of thousands of people.
The White House has said President Joe Biden told the Israeli prime minister on Sunday there should be no military operation in the densely populated Gaza border town without a “credible” plan to protect civilians.
Two Israeli hostages were rescued from Rafah overnight following a raid on a heavily guarded apartment in the town.
The accompanying airstrikes killed at least 67 people, according to a spokesman for the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
Downing Street declined to say whether Netanyahu’s claim of “total victory” over Hamas in months is realistic.
Sunak’s official spokesman said: “That’s the prime minister of Israel’s language.
“From the PM’s perspective, what we want to see is a pause in this fighting so we can get aid in and hostages out, and obviously what we all want to see is a sustainable ceasefire.
“To reach that, as we’ve said before, we need to see measures taken including Hamas no longer being in charge of Gaza and an arrangement that ensures the sustainable security of Israel, as well as aid in to support the people living in Gaza”.
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