Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has said the United States “is the only country capable” of preventing Israel’s long-feared invasion of Rafah city in southern Gaza, AFP reports.

Speaking at a summit in Riyadh attended by a host of Gaza mediators, Abbas said: “We appeal to the United States of America to ask Israel to stop the Rafah operation.”

He warned it would harm and displace civilians, and be “the biggest disaster in the history of the Palestinian people”.