UN official says Rafah operation could be ‘incredible blow’ to Gaza aid operation

An Israeli military operation in Rafah would be a huge blow to the humanitarian operations for all of Gaza and put the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians at risk, according to the UN humanitarian office.

Israel has warned of an operation to root out the remaining Hamas battalions in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, where around a million displaced people are crowded together in shelters and makeshift accommodations amid the ongoing war.

“It could be a slaughter of civilians and an incredible blow to the humanitarian operation in the entire strip because it is run primarily out of Rafah,” says Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office, at a Geneva press briefing.

Aid operations run from Rafah include medical clinics and food distribution points, including centers for malnourished children, he adds.

At the same briefing, a World Health Organization official says that a contingency plan for an incursion had been prepared, which included a new field hospital, but that it would not be enough to prevent a substantial rise in the death toll.

“I want to really say that this contingency plan is a band-aid,” says Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for Gaza via video link. “It will absolutely not prevent the expected substantial additional mortality and morbidity posed by a military operation.”

He adds that he is “extremely concerned” that any incursion would close the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt which is currently being used to import medical supplies.

The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.