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Australia on Wednesday added its voice to the growing opposition to the Israeli ground offensive into Rafah, warning that the impact of the operation will be "devastating."
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, in a post on X, said her "country has been clear about our objections to a major Israeli ground offensive into Rafah, and we have reiterated this to Israel again today (Wednesday)."
She said that over half of Gaza's 2.3 million people are taking shelters in Rafah from the fighting elsewhere.
The impacts on Palestinian civilians from an "expanded" military operation would be "devastating," she noted.
"That's why our call remains for a humanitarian ceasefire to enable hostages to be released and unimpeded aid to flow."
Wang said that Canberra supports "continued work" of Qatar, the US and Egypt to broker a cease-fire deal between Tel Aviv and Hamas.
Since Monday, Rafah has been experiencing intensified Israeli airstrikes and shelling in all its areas, including residential areas.
The Israeli army on Tuesday stormed and occupied the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, closing Gazan Palestinians' only gateway to the world.
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas which killed about 1,200 people. Nearly 34,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, and 78,100 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Over seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave's population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
*Writing by Aamir Latif -
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