UN Under-Secretary-General for humanitarian affairs Martin Griffiths said no humanitarian response plan could counter the “unspeakable tragedy” he said would unfold in the southern Gaza city of Rafah in the event of an Israeli ground attack.
„What is absolutely certain is that a ground operation in Rafah would be nothing short of an unspeakable tragedy. No humanitarian response plan will be able to counter it,” Griffiths said in a statement published on the website of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs also said a ground operation in Rafah could take place in the “near future”. According to him, this will “bring even more agony and death” of the residents of the Gaza Strip and will be a “catastrophic blow” for humanitarian organizations operating in the enclave. Griffiths noted that Israel's efforts to provide humanitarian aid to the population of the Gaza Strip cannot be used to prepare for a full-scale attack on Rafah or "serve as a justification for it".
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli army would conduct an operation in the city of Rafah whether or not a deal was reached with Hamas to release the hostages, and said it would stop fighting in the Gaza Strip without has achieved all its goals, it is excluded.