Several UN member states asked the Security Council on Wednesday to assume responsibility for establishing a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Anadolu news agency reported.

“We believe that the Security Council should shoulder its responsibility and act immediately and stop the fighting, saving Rafah from this looming catastrophe,” Palestinian envoy to the UN Riyad Mansour said on behalf of the countries, which included Turkiye and Arab Group members.

“We would love to see the Security Council acting as quickly as possible within its mandate and its power,” Mansour told the reporters in New York.

He said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last Friday declared his intention to invade Rafah and create conditions “to possibly push” millions of Palestinians from Gaza to the Sinai in Egypt.

The Israeli army plans to launch a ground offensive in Rafah to defeat what Tel Aviv calls the remaining “Hamas battalions.” The plans have triggered concerns of a humanitarian catastrophe.

“Our effort is to do everything possible to stop Israel from committing this crime of depopulating the Gaza Strip and stopping the war immediately.”

“The guarantee to do that is to have a resolution calling for a ceasefire, and we hope that the Security Council would elevate itself to that responsibility,” added Mansour.