Arab, Islamic, international countries, organizations react to Israel’s invasion of Rafah, 1st add

He added that Israel must immediately withdraw from the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing and return to the status quo in Rafah and the border gate as soon as possible. Algeria condemned in the strongest terms the Israeli colonizing occupation forces' military operations in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah in preparation for a ground invasion of this Palestinian area. According to the Algerian News Agency, Algeria stressed that this extremely dangerous escalation, which threatens to cause an unprecedented criminal toll and a humanitarian catastrophe of wide scope and dimensions, confirms that the Israeli colonizing occupation is continuing to implement its plans aimed at exterminating the Palestinian people and displacing the remaining ones, and that by doing so, the occupation confirms that it does not care at all about the consensus of the international community on the need to speed up the implementation of an immediate and lasting ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the imperative to launch a poli tical process that guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Italian President Sergio Mattarella called for avoiding the "expansion of the Israeli military operation in the city of Rafah" in the southern Gaza Strip. In a speech at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly today, he reiterated the call and appeal of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to "avoid the planned military operation in Rafah, especially in light of the expected catastrophic consequences for Palestinian civilians there." Source: Jordan News Agency