The UN humanitarian office on Friday warned that an Israeli incursion into Rafah would not only endanger the lives of hundreds of thousands but also would be an "incredible blow" to humanitarian assistance.
"The hundreds of thousands of people who are there would be at imminent risk of death if there is an assault," Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told a UN briefing in Geneva.
"It could be a slaughter of civilians, but at the same time, an incredible blow to the humanitarian operation in the entire strip because it is run primarily out of Rafah," Laerke said.
He underlined that Rafah is at "the heart of the humanitarian operation in Gaza," as operations in Rafah include storage of life-saving supplies for the whole strip, medical clinics, food distribution points, and centers for malnourished children.
Israel has launched a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people.
Nearly 34,600 Palestinians have since been killed and over 77,800 others injured amid a tight siege imposed by Israel, which left the entire population, especially residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.
More than six months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave's population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
