UN Chief Warns Against Rafah Invasion

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA)-Monitoring: “All members of the Security Council, and many other governments, have clearly expressed their opposition to such an operation. I appeal for all those with influence over Israel to do everything in their power to prevent it,” he urged.

He added that more than 1.2 million people were seeking refuge in Rafah after fleeing from Israeli bombardments in the North of Gaza.

“They have very little to eat, hardly any access to medical care, little shelter, and nowhere safe to go. In Northern Gaza, the most vulnerable – from sick children to people with disabilities – are already dying of hunger and disease. We must do everything possible to avert an entirely preventable, human-made famine,” Guterres said.

Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will invade Rafah even if it reaches a ceasefire and captive release agreement with Hamas.

UN aid Chief Martin Griffiths has also warned that despite global calls for Israel to spare the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, “a ground operation there is on the immediate horizon”.

"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," Griffiths announced in a statement.

He also added in a statement that Israeli improvements to aid access in Gaza “cannot be used to prepare for or justify a full-blown military assault on Rafah”.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has also taken to X to plead with Israel not to proceed with its planned invasion of Gaza’s Southern city.

"A full scale invasion on Rafah would be a humanitarian catastrophe," he wrote on X.

"We appeal to Israel not to proceed. We urge all parties to work for a ceasefire and lasting peace," he said.

He stated WHO teams “urgently need sustained, unimpeded and safe access” in Gaza.

The ongoing “man-made starvation” and blockade of humanitarian aid and services by Israeli forces is increasing the risk of epidemics that can be fatal, he stated.

“We need a ceasefire,” he added.

Flouting the International Court of Justice’s provisional ruling, Israel continues its onslaught on the Gaza Strip where at least 34,535 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and 77,700 injured since October 7, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Hostilities have continued unabated, however, and aid deliveries remain woefully insufficient to address the humanitarian catastrophe./Fars news