Israel warned Rafah offensive will lead to ‘serious repercussions’ as dozens killed in strikes – live updates

The US should reduce arms supplies to Israel due to high civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip, the EU’s foreign policy chief suggested.

Josep Borrell said the US should provide less arms in order to prevent so many deaths if it believed too many people were being killed.

It comes after US president Joe Biden said Israel’s response to Hamas’s 7 October attack was “over the top” and other officials said too many Palestinians had been killed.

“Well, if you believe that too many people are being killed, maybe you should provide less arms in order to prevent so many people being killed,” Mr Borrell said.

“If the international community believes that this is a slaughter, that too many people are being killed, maybe we have to think about the provision of arms,” he added.

Rafah is a city in the south of Gaza near the border of Egypt. When Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula, now part of Egypt, it was split into a Gazan and Egyptian part.

It was initially a safe haven for people fleeing northern Gaza in the early stages of the most recent Israel-Gaza conflict, when Palestinians were ordered to evacuate ahead of heavy Israeli bombardment.

But the city is now home to around 1.3million people – more than half of Gaza’s population – and Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a ground invasion of the area, where he believes Hamas operatives are hiding.

Most residents of Rafah are living in temporary structures such as tents and aid organisations have warned of a dire humanitarian situation.

Welcome to our live blog on the Israel Gaza war. Israel has been warned a planned ground offensive into Rafah will have “very serious consequences”, with countries in the region and around the world expressing concern.

It comes after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to evacuate civilians from Rafah, which is home to 1.5million Palestinians, ahead of the offensive intended to “destroy Hamas”.

Two Israel hostages were rescued overnight from the city as airstrikes killed 67 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.