United Nations official warns invading Rafah will be “a tragedy beyond words”

NEW YORK, Wednesday, May 1, 2024 (WAFA) – An Israeli invasion of the southern blockaded Gaza Strip city of Rafah will be “a tragedy beyond words”, the UN’s humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The simplest truth is that a ground operation in Rafah will be nothing short of a tragedy beyond words. No humanitarian plan can counter that. The rest is detail”, Griffiths said after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to launch an offensive on Rafah, which has become a refuge to some 1.5 million Palestinians.

He added: “The world has been appealing to the Israeli authorities for weeks to spare Rafah, but a ground operation there is on the immediate horizon.”

“For the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled to Gaza’s southernmost point to escape disease, famine, mass graves and direct fighting, a ground invasion would spell even more trauma and death.”

He warned that “For agencies struggling to provide humanitarian aid despite impassable roads, unexploded ordnance, fuel shortages, delays at checkpoints, and Israeli restrictions, a ground invasion would strike a disastrous blow.”

“We are in a race to stave off hunger and death, and we are losing,” he added.

K.F.