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Israel’s expanded military operation in Rafah ‘must end now’: WHO
Hanan Balkhy, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, says Israel’s incursion into Rafah is putting the lives of 1.5 million people, including 600,000 children, “in grave danger” and “must end now”.
While the the UN’s health agency and its partners “are committed to staying and delivering” services in Rafah, Balkhy wrote in a post on X, this requires “unimpeded access of aid through the Rafah border crossing, which must be urgently reopened”.
“An urgent ceasefire in Gaza is needed now, for humanity’s sake,” Balkhy said.
WHO and UN teams evacuate people from Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City
US still pushing for captives deal: Report
In its first response to the Israeli army seizing control of the Rafah crossing, the US State Department has only said that it has made its views on a major ground invasion of that area clear to Israel.
“We continue to believe that a hostage deal is in the best interest of the Israeli and the Palestinian people; it would bring an immediate ceasefire and allow increased humanitarian assistance into Gaza,” a spokesperson told the Reuters news agency.
International agencies must leave Rafah areas with active military operations: Israeli gov’t
In a statement cited by Reuters news agency, an Israeli government spokesperson called on international organisations to evacuate from areas of Rafah where military operations are ongoing.
The spokesperson claimed that aid is continuing to flow into the enclave despite the military incursion.
But in recent days, Israel has shut off the two major border crossings used to get aid into Gaza, including the Rafah crossing, totally cutting off Rafah from the outside world and blocking the limited aid that had been allowed in.
For months, aid groups have warned that Israel’s restrictions on aid flow into Gaza are bringing the enclave to the brink of famine.
‘I’m disturbed and distressed’ by Israeli military operations in Rafah: UN chief
The UN secretary-general has appealed to all parties involved in the Gaza war to do everything possible to get a ceasefire deal done and prevent further deaths and destruction after seven months of war.
“I reiterate my call to both parties to show political courage and spare no effort to secure an agreement now to stop the bloodshed, to free the hostages and to help stabilize the region, which is still at risk of explosion,” Antonio Guterres said in a video address.
The UN chief spoke after Hamas said it had agreed to a truce proposal, but Israel said it did not and instead launched a ground incursion into eastern Rafah.
“This is a crucial opportunity that the region – and indeed the world – cannot miss,” Guterres said of the peace talks. “I’m disturbed and distressed by the renewed military activity in Rafah.”
Death and destruction as Israeli air raids pound Rafah
Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli raid on a residential building in Rafah
Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of Rafah
Amnesty says Rafah assault to further compound ‘unspeakable suffering of Palestinians’
The rights group has called on the international community to pressure Israel to immediately halt its ground operations in Rafah and ensure unfettered access for humanitarian aid in Gaza.
“The Israeli military must also rescind their order to civilians to ‘evacuate’ eastern Rafah unless they can guarantee the population’s safety, which is highly unlikely under the intense military attacks that Israel has been relentlessly conducting for seven months across the entire Gaza Strip,” Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s senior director of research, advocacy, policy and campaigns, said in a statement.
Guevara-Rosas said Israel’s long-threatened, large-scale ground operation in Rafah would further compound “the unspeakable suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza”.
“Palestinian civilians in Gaza are human beings, not pawns to be moved around a chessboard at the whim of the Israeli authorities. The notion that displaced civilians are safe anywhere in Gaza has proved a fallacy time and again as the Israeli military has attacked areas it had previously designated as safe.”
‘Haven’t civilians suffered enough death and destruction?’ Guterres asks
The UN chief warns Israel that an assault on Rafah, where 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering, would “be a strategic mistake, a political calamity and a humanitarian nightmare”.
“After more than 1,100 Israelis killed in the Hamas terror attacks of 7 October … after more than 34,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, haven’t we seen enough? Haven’t civilians suffered enough death and destruction? Make no mistake – a full-scale assault on Rafah would be a humanitarian catastrophe,” Guterres said.
He also demanded that Israel reopen the land crossings it closed so desperately needed aid supplies can get into Gaza, where famine has already taken hold in the territory’s north.
“The closure of both the Rafah and Kerem Shalom [Karem Abu Salem] crossings is especially damaging to an already dire humanitarian situation. They must be reopened immediately.”
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