German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned Israel against expanding its military operations to Rafah, Al Jazeera reports.

“We consider an offensive on Rafah […] to be irresponsible,” Scholz said on a talk show organised by the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) media group in Potsdam just outside Berlin.

“We warn against this, and we do not believe that there is any concept that will ultimately lead to this happening without incredible human losses in terms of innocent civilians,” he said.

The German chancellor added that humanitarian aid must also be brought to Gaza, and there must be a perspective for peaceful coexistence in which two states can exist side by side.