As Israel appears to begin its long-feared assault on Rafah in the Gaza Strip, the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has warned that the consequences for the hundreds of thousands sheltering there could be dire. Speaking to the press, Borrell described as “sad news” the blockage of a ceasefire deal that was first accepted by Hamas before being shunned by Israel. “Hamas accepted, Israel rejected, and the land offensive against Rafah has started again,” Borrell said, “in spite of all the requests of the international community, the US, the European Union member states, everybody asking Net…