UN aid chief warns Rafah assault ‘on immediate horizon’

UNITED NATIONS: United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths warned on Tuesday that despite global calls for Israel to spare Rafah in the Gaza Strip, “a ground operation there is on the immediate horizon.”

He also said 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.”

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed for states with influence over Israel “to do everything in their power” to prevent an Israeli assault on Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than 1.2 million displaced Gaza Palestinians are sheltering.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday to go ahead with a long-promised assault, whatever the response by Hamas to latest proposals for a halt to fighting in the nearly seven-month-long war and a return of Israeli hostages.

“The world has been appealing to the Israeli authorities for weeks to spare Rafah, but a ground operation there is on the immediate horizon,” said UN aid chief Martin Griffiths in a statement. “The simplest truth is that a ground operation in Rafah will be nothing short of a tragedy beyond words.”

Israel pledged nearly a month ago to improve aid access to the enclave of 2.3 million people after US President Joe Biden demanded steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis, saying the US could place conditions on support if Israel did not act.

Guterres told reporters that there had been “incremental progress” toward averting “an entirely preventable, human-made famine” in northern Gaza, but much more was urgently needed.

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“These improvements in bringing more aid into Gaza cannot be used to prepare for or justify a full-blown military assault on Rafah,” Griffiths said.

Guterres specifically called on Israel to follow through on its promise to open two crossings to the north.

“A major obstacle to distributing aid across Gaza is the lack of security for humanitarians and the people we serve. Humanitarian convoys, facilities and personnel, and the people in need must not be targets,” Guterres told reporters.