UN High Commissioner: The possibility of an Israeli offensive in Rafah is terrifying

(Patria) - The possibility of an Israeli offensive in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have taken refuge from the conflict, is terrifying, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk assessed yesterday in Geneva.

"Given the bloodshed that has occurred in Gaza so far, we can only imagine what will happen in Rafah. The possibility of a full military incursion into Rafah, where about 1.5 million Palestinians are crammed on the Egyptian border and have nowhere to flee, is terrifying," Türk said in a statement.

He expressed concern about the consequences of an offensive in Rafah on humanitarian aid on which Palestinians depend.

- An incursion into Rafah could also mean the end of the meager humanitarian aid that enters and exits, which will have enormous consequences for Gaza as a whole, including hundreds of thousands of people at risk of dying of starvation in the north. The world must not allow this to happen - Türk said, and called for an immediate ceasefire.

- I have no idea where a safe place is in the Gaza Strip - Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), said yesterday at a press conference in Brussels.

He notes that panic has set in due to the planned offensive by the Israeli army in the southern Gaza Strip.

- We are talking about five percent of the killed, wounded, or missing residents, or more than 100,000 people out of a population of two million in just four months - Lazzarini added.

According to the local health ministry, 28,340 people have been killed in Gaza in the Israeli offensive so far, and 164 in the past 24 hours.

In Israel, more than 1,160 people, mostly civilians, were killed in attacks by Hamas-led Palestinian extremists on the first day of the war, October 7.