Israel begins Rafah aggression: Palestinian Foreign Ministry

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry has announced that the Israeli army has begun its aggression on Rafah and launched airstrikes in the southern Gaza city without any prior notice or "waiting for permission from anyone."

The statement released on social media platform X on March 19 said that Israel launched devastating airstrikes on Rafah late on March 18, killing scores of Palestinians, adding that the army did not announce it or wait for anyone's permission, in an apparent attempt to evade international backlash.

The ministry strongly condemned Israel's "bloody airstrikes and systematic destructive operations" in the city.

"Israel began to destroy Rafah on a systematic basis through repeated attacks on houses, causing dozens of martyrs and wounded. Israel began its aggression against the city of Rafah and did not wait for permission from anyone, nor did it announce it to avoid international reactions," the statement said.

"The ministry considers the escalation of this bloody bombing in Rafah as a serious beginning to expand its [Israel's] crimes there, despite the presence of more than 1 million displaced people in the region."

The statement emphasized Israel's disregard for the lives of over 1 million people sheltering in Rafah, noting that these attacks coincided with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visits to Saudi Arabia and Egypt.