GAZA: Martin Griffiths, the United Nations’s undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs has said that all predictions regarding the catastrophic consequences of an Israeli ground offensive of Rafah are “coming true”.
In a statement on social media, Griffiths – who has long warned of the negative fallout should Rafah’s population of displaced persons face a military onslaught – said there is “nearly no food left and humanitarian efforts are stuck”. He said that the world has lost its way and needs to return to the norms we developed.
Griffiths told Reuters news agency that famine in the Gaza Strip was an “immediate, clear and present danger”. The UN chief said that facts on the ground tell them that they don’t need to be scientists to see the consequence of the removal of food in the region.
Meanwhile, Hamas said that Palestinians will continue to confront the ground invasion of Rafah and other area in the Gaza Strip “no matter how long the aggression lasts and regardless of its shape”.
Over 630,000 people have now fled Israel’s advance on southern Rafah with another more than 100,000 escaping from the ground operation on the north. Palestinians are battling Israeli forces in Jabalia, northern Gaza, and in southern Rafah city in some of the fiercest clashes of the war.
Gaza Health Minister said that more than 35,303 people have been killed and more than 79,261 wounded mostly women and children in Israeli attacks on Gaza since Oct. 7.
