We must work with the US to prevent a massacre in Rafah

Benjamin Netanyahu cannot eliminate Hamas by force, despite his claims to the contrary, writes former British consul-general to Jerusalem, Vincent Fean. We must do all we can to ensure a secure and prosperous future for both sides of this terrible conflict

Expressions of concern are not enough. As the ICJ effectively ordered, what matters is that Israel should desist from indiscriminate killing and destruction (AP)

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his military to plan the “evacuation” of Palestinian civilians from the Gazan city of Rafah, on the border with Egypt’s Sinai desert. The same order is to attack the city, where over a million displaced Palestinians live – many of them starving and homeless. Those afflicted people have nowhere else to go, because nowhere in Gaza is safe.

Remember Hind Rajab, the six-year-old girl killed in January by Israeli tank fire when fleeing Gaza City? The medics in an ambulance sent to rescue her – Yusuf al-Zeino and Ahmed Al-Madhoun – were killed trying to reach Hind. Those names matter. They were people, not numbers. They were innocent. Many more innocent civilians will die if Israel carries out an assault on Rafah.

On 26 January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) imposed provisional measures on Israel, having found that there is a plausible case under the 1948 Genocide Convention and ordered Israel to ensure its forces do not commit such acts. One of the measures states: