Belgian Minister Calls For Halt To Arms Export To Israel

Belgium's Minister of Development Caroline Gennez on Tuesday called for a halt to arms export to Israel.

Speaking to the press ahead of the EU's development ministers' meeting in Brussels, she said: "Yet again, millions of people are starving in Gaza. Hostages are still being kept and the attack, the ground invasion of Rafah is imminent."

"I think we need a cease-fire now. This violence must end," she added.

Gennez also urged the EU Commission to resume payments to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Finally, it's time to stop exporting weapons to the Middle East, Israel and the warring countries, she said.

Israel claimed to have taken "operational control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossings," after advancing during the night as their warplanes pounded residential homes.

On Monday, Israeli forces issued evacuation orders for Palestinians in eastern Rafah, a move widely seen as a prelude to Israel's long-feared attack on the city, home to some 1.5 million displaced Palestinians.

Nearly 34,800 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip since last October, Gaza's Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

Israel also stands accused of genocide in an ongoing case 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 there. -