Israeli attacks in Rafah worry Finland

Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen on Monday expressed concern over the Israeli attacks in Rafah and called for an immediate ceasefire.

“Deeply concerned about the Israeli attacks in Rafah – 1.4 million people are sheltering in the area,” Valtonen wrote in a post in her social media platform X late Monday night.

She also said Palestinians are entitled to live in the Palestinian territory.

“We call for an immediate ceasefire to facilitate life-saving aid and the release of hostages,” the minister added in the post.

Israel's special forces raided Gaza's Rafah early Monday to release two hostages, launching "waves of strikes" that killed at least 67 Palestinians, reported Xinhua.

Palestinian eyewitnesses told Xinhua that Israel carried out some 40 airstrikes on the Rafah area in the early hours of Monday, with intensive ground shelling.