United Nations: Invading Rafah will endanger the lives of hundreds of thousands

Gaza (Union)

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced yesterday that any Israeli incursion into Rafah would endanger the lives of hundreds of thousands of Gazans, and would be a massive blow to humanitarian operations in the entire Strip, at a time when the World Health Organization announced emergency plans in In the event of any invasion.
“It could cause significant harm to civilians and a huge blow to the humanitarian relief operation in the entire sector because it is mainly managed from Rafah,” Jens Laerke, spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told a press briefing in Geneva.
Israel said it would work to ensure the safe evacuation of civilians from Rafah.
Laerke added that the relief operations launched from Rafah include medical clinics, warehouses equipped with humanitarian supplies, food distribution points, and 50 centers for children suffering from acute malnutrition.
He continued, “The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs will make every effort to ensure the continuation of relief operations even in the event of an incursion, and is studying how to achieve this.”
A World Health Organization official said, in the same press conference, that a contingency plan had been prepared in the event that Israel carried out a ground invasion, and the plan includes a new field hospital, but he said that this would not be sufficient to prevent a large number of deaths.
According to medical sources in Gaza, more than 34,000 Palestinians were killed during nearly 7 months of war.
“I really want to say that this emergency plan is just a bandage,” Rick Pepperkorn, the World Health Organization’s representative in the occupied Palestinian territories, added via video link. “This will not at all prevent the expected large number of deaths and illnesses resulting from the military operation.”
Other preparations include providing hospitals in the northern regions with medical supplies in advance in case Rafah’s three hospitals stop working, as happened many times during the 7-month conflict due to Israeli raids and bombing.
Data issued by the World Health Organization show that a third of the Gaza Strip’s 36 hospitals before the war are partially operational. Peppercorn added that he is “deeply concerned that any incursion would lead to the closure of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which is currently used to bring in medical supplies.”
He continued: “We are pressing hard for it to remain open no matter what happens,” and added that the World Health Organization had raised this issue with the Israeli authorities.
In this context, the World Health Organization announced yesterday that the food situation is witnessing a slight improvement in the Gaza Strip with the availability of more materials, noting at the same time that the risk of famine still exists.
The organization said: “There is a slight increase in the amount of food, more diverse food, people tell us that as well.”
She added: “What I noticed over time is that there are certainly more basic foodstuffs and more wheat, but there are also more diverse foods in the markets, not only in the south, but also in northern Gaza.” She confirmed that “the food situation has improved slightly.”
Dr. Ahmed Daher, from the World Health Organization, also spoke from Gaza on the same point.
He said that in the past, residents would throw themselves by the thousands onto World Health Organization trucks heading to northern Gaza, hoping to find food supplies there.
He added, “This has changed in recent weeks.” Today there is more food coming in.” International organizations criticize the strict Israeli measures imposed on humanitarian aid, considering that they slow down its introduction into the famine-threatened sector in insufficient quantities for the population.
Daher stressed that the food situation remains “fragile” in Gaza, explaining that the population of 2.4 million people also lacks the financial liquidity to pay for food items available in the markets.
“Access to food must now be further supported and diversified,” he said.