The African Union on Wednesday condemned the Israeli incursion into the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, calling on the international community to stop “this bloody escalation.”

A statement on the “X” platform said that the Chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, “strongly condemns the extension of this war to the Rafah crossing,” after Israeli tanks took control of the corridor, which is considered key for bringing aid into the besieged Palestinian Strip.

According to the statement, Faki expressed his “deep concern about the war that Israel is waging in Gaza, which at every moment causes a huge number of deaths and the systematic destruction of human living conditions.”

He called on the entire international community to coordinate collective action effectively to stop this bloody escalation.