Israeli offensive in Rafah would mean more civilian suffering, deaths: UN refugee agency

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) expressed Monday grave concerns about the potential consequences of an Israeli offensive in Rafah, stressing that such actions would result in increased civilian suffering and fatalities, Anadolu news agency reported.

“An Israeli offensive in Rafah would mean more civilian suffering and deaths,” UNRWA wrote on X.

“The consequences would be devastating for 1.4 million people,” it added.

Israeli offensive in Rafah would mean more civilian suffering, deaths: UN refugee agency

In response to the escalating situation, UNRWA emphasized its commitment to maintaining a presence in Rafah for as long as possible.

“UNRWA is not evacuating: the Agency will maintain a presence in Rafah as long as possible and will continue providing lifesaving aid to people,” it said.

The Israeli army issued on Monday morning urgent evacuation orders to Palestinian residents and displaced individuals in several areas of eastern Rafah, urging them to immediately relocate to the town of al-Mawasi.

According to Army Radio, the decision to evacuate residents from eastern Rafah was taken late Sunday in a Cabinet session. It said that around 100,000 civilians believed to be present in the area are set to be evacuated.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Gaza since the 7 October Hamas incursion, which killed around 1,200 people.

However, since then, it has been revealed by Haaretz that helicopters and tanks of the Israeli army had, in fact, killed many of the 1,139 soldiers and civilians claimed by Israel to have been killed by the Palestinian Resistance.

Tel Aviv, in comparison, has killed more than 34,600 Palestinians and wounded 77,700 others amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities in the Palestinian Territory.

More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85 per cent of the enclave’s population into internal displacement besides a crippling blockade on food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which, in January, issued an interim ruling that ordered it to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

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