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JERUSALEM: Main Israeli navy motion on Rafah, in Gaza’s far south, would heap additional devastation on civilians, the pinnacle of the United Nations Reduction and Works Company for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) warned on Friday (Feb 9).
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week stated he had ordered troops to organize to enter town as Israel hunts down these behind Hamas’s unprecedented Oct 7 assault on southern Israel.
However UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini, underneath stress after Israel alleged 12 of the agency’s staff took part in the deadly assault, stated the humanitarian state of affairs in Rafah was more and more determined.
Greater than 1.2 million folks – about half of the complete inhabitants of the Gaza Strip – had been now crowded into town, sleeping on the streets in makeshift lodging, with food and water scarce.
“Any large-scale navy operation amongst this inhabitants can solely result in an extra layer of infinite tragedy that is unfolding,” he advised reporters in Jerusalem.
“There is a sense of rising anxiousness and rising panic in Rafah. Individuals have completely no thought the place to go after Rafah.”
Lazzarini stated air strikes had hit close to UNRWA’s base in Rafah on Thursday, heightening tensions and worry amongst civilians, and placing into doubt the company’s total reduction effort.
UNRWA operations in Gaza had been “on edge”, he stated, including: “I do not understand how lengthy we will function in such a high-risk surroundings.”
The company chief stated the state of affairs was worsening all through southern Gaza, the place police had been changing into more and more reluctant to offer escorts for help vans that had been being mobbed by Gazans determined for meals.
On high of that, eight police had been killed in three separate air strikes within the final 4 days, he stated, including: “They’re saying sufficient is sufficient.”
Lazzarini had beforehand warned that the lives of at the least 300,000 folks in central and northern Gaza had been in danger due to an absence of meals however UNRWA was unable to get to the area.
The final time the company was allowed to ship provides to the world was on Jan 23.
The US on Thursday warned Israel {that a} push into Rafah with out correct planning could lead to a “disaster” for civilians.
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