UNITED NATIONS: The UN’s humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths in a statement on Tuesday warned that a ground offensive by Israeli troops in Rafah city of Gaza would be a tragedy beyond words.
Griffiths said the truth is that a ground operation in Rafah would be a massive tragedy and no humanitarian plan can counter that.
His statement comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced to launch an offensive on Rafah, which is hosting some 1.5 million Palestinian refugees.
As Hamas weighs a truce plan proposed in Cairo negotiations with the US, Egyptian, and Qatari mediators, Netanyahu is determined to launch the assault on Rafah with or without a deal.
The US and other countries and humanitarian organizations have asked Israel to spare the city as any military operation would lead to massive civilian casualties.
“The world has been appealing to the Israeli authorities for weeks to spare Rafah, but a ground operation there is on the immediate horizon,” said Griffiths.
Rafah ground invasion to cause more trauma, death
He said hundreds of thousands of people have fled to Rafah to escape famine, disease and direct fighting and any ground invasion in the city would cause even more trauma and death.
He went on to say the aid agencies are already struggling to provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza due to active hostilities, impassable roads, unexploded ordnance, fuel shortages and Israeli restrictions.
According to the health ministry in Gaza, Israel’s relentless bombardment has killed at least 34,535 people in the besieged enclave, mostly women and children.
