RIYADH  -  Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry warned Saturday of “very serious re­percussions of storming and target­ing” the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. “The Kingdom affirms its categorical rejection and strong con­demnation of their forcible deporta­tion, and renews its demand for an im­mediate ceasefire,” the ministry said in a statement. Prime Minister Ben­jamin Netanyahu has directed Israel’s military to plan for the “evacuation of the population” from Rafah, meaning an estimated 1.3 million people, many of whom were already displaced from other parts of the enclave and say they have nowhere to go. The Saudi minis­try said targeting Rafah amounts to a violation of international law and “confirms the need for an urgent con­vening of the UN Security Council to prevent Israel from causing an immi­nent humanitarian disaster.”

QATAR CONDEMNS ISRAEL’S PLAN TO LAUNCH OFFENSIVE IN RAFAH

Qatar on Sunday condemned “in the strongest terms” Israel’s plans for a ground offensive in the city of Ra­fah, urging the UN’s Security Coun­cil to “prevent” Israel from commit­ting what it described as “genocide.” Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned of “a humanitarian catastro­phe in the city that has become a last refuge for hundreds of thousands of displaced people inside the besieged Strip,” in a statement on its website. The Gulf nation called on the Securi­ty Council “to take urgent action to prevent the Israeli occupation forces from invading Rafah and committing genocide, and to provide full protec­tion to civilians under international law and international humanitarian law,” the statement read. The minis­try said it “affirms Qatar’s categori­cal rejection of attempts to forcibly displace the Palestinian people from Gaza Strip.”

Qatar has been a key player in talks between Israel and Hamas, mediat­ing a potential truce agreement be­tween the two sides involving the release of hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed the country’s military to plan for the evacuation of the more than 1 million people living in Rafah, his office said in a statement on Fri­day, ahead of an anticipated ground assault on the southern Gaza city.