has warned that, if Israel moves forward with a military operation into the densely packed border city of Rafah, hundreds of thousands would be “at imminent risk of death.”
That warning came from Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Rafah, a critical entry point for humanitarian aid, is filled with displaced Palestinians, many in tent camps. The UN estimates there are currently 1.4 million people sheltering there.
Meanwhile, the UN’s humanitarian chief Martin Griffith said that, regardless of any humanitarian plan, the invasion would be a disaster for civilians living in Rafah.
“The simplest truth is that a ground operation in Rafah will be nothing short of a tragedy beyond words. No humanitarian plan can counter that,” Griffiths said .
The director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has also warned of possible dire implications.
“WHO is deeply concerned that a full-scale military operation in Rafah, Gaza, could lead to a bloodbath, and further weaken an already broken health system,” Tedros said on X, formerly Twitter.
The WHO said in a statement that a Rafah incursion would substantially increase mortality and morbidity.
“A new wave of displacement would exacerbate overcrowding, further limiting access to food, water, health and sanitation services, leading to increased disease outbreaks, worsening levels of hunger, and additional loss of lives,” the UN health agency said.
“The broken health system would not be able to cope with a surge in casualties and deaths that a Rafah incursion would cause.”
On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel had yet to present “a credible plan to genuinely protect the civilians who are in harm’s way.”
“Absent such a plan, we can’t support a major military operation going into Rafah because the damage it would do is beyond what’s acceptable,” Blinken said.
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