UAE’s Gargash says Israel’s violence against Gaza civilians brutal and inhuman

The Emirati diplomat condemned the 'heinous attack on Gaza and Rafah' as he addressed the Arab Media Forum in Dubai

Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE President, has condemned the attack on Gaza and Rafah. Pawan Singh / The National

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Israel's violence against civilians in Gaza "has taken brutal and inhuman dimensions," Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE President, said at the Arab Media Forum in Dubai on Wednesday.

“I’ve been to Gaza twice and witnessed the scale of overcrowding. Israel has been using this method of displacing families repeatedly, only to attack them in designated safe zones,” he said.

The Emirati diplomat spoke as Israeli tanks continued their push across the city of Rafah in Gaza on Wednesday, having reached the centre of the city on Tuesday after a night of heavy bombardment in which scores of civilians were killed, including in designated so-called "safe zones" around the city.

About a million civilians have fled from Rafah as Israel pushes on with its offensive against the city, where 1.5 million people had been sheltering before the assault began three weeks ago.

Washington had also warned Israel not to attack Rafah, but the White House said the current assault did not constitute a "major ground operation".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under pressure from his far-right cabinet partners, has vowed to achieve "total victory" against Hamas in the city, despite criticism from international allies and an order from the International Court of Justice to halt the offensive.

Mr Gargash said the Arab world condemned the "heinous" attack on Rafah.

“We have a firm belief in the justice of the Palestinian cause, which we absorbed from our upbringing and from our Arab conscience,” Dr Gargash told the audience in Dubai, stressing that the “heinous attack in Gaza and Rafah cannot be overlooked by the world”.

“But the problem is the current Israeli government and the far-right extremists have worked on existing imbalances,” Dr Gargash said on the continuing efforts towards a two-state solution following the Oslo Accords.

A man carries a child as Palestinians flee Rafah. Reuters

Dr Gargash said that the containment policy to resolve the situation in Gaza has “failed miserably”, especially with the presence of an Israeli government that has “exaggerated expectations”.

The Emirati diplomat stressed that steps must be identified to revive the right to establish a Palestinian state, stressing that Israel is losing its international influence because of its continuing brutal war policies.

The UAE recently condemned Israel’s most recent attack on Rafah, when Israeli strikes sparked a fire that killed more than 40 people in a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah.

“The UAE in the strongest terms and denounced the continuing Israeli violations in the Gaza Strip and the most recent targeting of refugee tents, which has resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries to innocent civilians,” the foreign ministry said.