A ground operation by Israel Defense Forces in Rafah, Gaza, “could lead to a slaughter,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Friday. “Any ground operation would mean more suffering and death,” OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke told the media in Geneva on Friday, alluding to the approximately 1.2 million displaced Palestinians who are sheltering in or around Gaza’s southernmost city.
The World Health Organization released a similar statement on Friday, warning that any on-the-ground military campaign may turn into a humanitarian “catastrophe.”
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The comments from the two United Nations agencies come just days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated unequivocally that an invasion of Rafah will take place regardless of the outcome of ongoing negotiations to free hostages held captive by the terrorist group Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.
Netanyahu reaffirmed on Tuesday that Israeli soldiers would enter Rafah and “eliminate the Hamas battalions there…with or without a deal, in order to achieve total victory.”
On Friday, the World Health Organization warned against such a move.
“This contingency plan consists of band-aids. “It would not avoid the projected significant increase in death and morbidity caused by a military action,” WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, stated in a video message from Jerusalem on Friday.
“This backup plan is band-aids,” Gaza says. A military campaign will not prevent the anticipated significant increase in mortality and morbidity. Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, @WHOoPt
“Any ground operation would mean more suffering and death” (@UNOCHA, pic.twitter.com/tJHt8dh3D7), United Nations Geneva (@UNGeneva), May 3, 2024
“The ailing health system will not be able to withstand the potential scale of devastation that the incursion will cause.”
Peeperkorn cautioned that any IDF military operation will exacerbate the already existing displacement of Gaza residents as well as reduce access to crucial food, water, and sanitation.
He stated that these conditions would “definitely” result in more illness outbreaks.
“The health system is barely surviving. If any (Israeli) operation occurs, preventing the population and patients from accessing these hospitals, what will happen to these patients? Ultimately, that would be a catastrophe,” WHO team leader in Gaza Dr. Ahmed Dahir said Friday in the same video statement as Peeperkorn.
The comments came on the same day that volunteers from charity organization World Central Kitchen returned to work in Rafah, preparing food for Palestinians in need amidst continuous Israeli bombardment in southern Gaza.
