Gaza Strip: Humanitarian groups warn of casualties in Rafah, death toll rises to 27,947

(Patria) - Any Israeli military advance into the Rafah area in southern Gaza could cause mass death among more than a million Palestinians trapped there, and humanitarian aid is at risk of collapse, humanitarian workers said on Friday, Reuters reports.

Israel has threatened to advance from Khan Younis, the main city in southern Gaza, to Rafah, where the population has quintupled as people fled the bombardment, often under evacuation orders, since Israel began its assault on Hamas in Gaza. Approximately 1.5 million people are now confined to dirty, overcrowded shelters or on the streets in a part of the territory surrounded by Egyptian and Israeli border fences and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as Israeli forces.

Doctors and humanitarian workers are struggling to provide even basic aid and stop the spread of disease.

"No war can be allowed in a giant refugee camp," said Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, warning of "bloodshed" if Israeli operations expand there.

Israel says it is taking steps to avoid harming civilians and accuses Hamas militants of hiding among them, even in shelters, which Hamas denies.

A total of 27,947 Palestinians have been killed and 67,459 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Friday. About 107 Palestinians were killed and 142 wounded in the last 24 hours, the ministry added.

A doctor who left Gaza last week described Rafah as a "closed prison" with sewage running through streets so crowded there is barely room for medical vehicles. "If the same bombs used in Khan Younis were used in Rafah, it would be at least a doubling or tripling of the death toll because it is so densely populated," said Dr. Santosh Kumar.

Development charity ActionAid said some people are resorting to eating grass.

"Every single person in Gaza is now hungry, and people have only 1.5 to 2 litres of unsafe water per day to meet all their needs," it said in a statement. Humanitarian agencies say they cannot move people to safer areas because Israeli troops are positioned in the north, and the aid allowed into the enclave is nowhere near enough for everyone. "All our shelters are full and cannot take in more people," said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.