Rafah incursion ‘could be a slaughter of civilians’
An Israeli incursion in Rafah would put the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians at risk and be a huge blow to the aid operations of the entire enclave, the UN humanitarian office said yesterday, as the World Health Organization announced contingency plans for an incursion.
Israel has repeatedly warned of an operation against Hamas in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, where around a million displaced people are crowded together, having fled months of Israeli bombardments.
"It could be a slaughter of civilians and an incredible blow to the humanitarian operation in the entire strip because it is run primarily out of Rafah," said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office (OCHA), at a Geneva press briefing.
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Israel has said it will work to ensure the safe evacuation of civilians from Rafah.
Aid operations in Rafah include medical clinics, warehouses stocked with humanitarian supplies, food distribution points and 50 centres for acutely malnourished children, Laerke said.
OCHA would do everything possible to ensure aid operations continued, even in the event of an incursion, and was studying how to do that, he added.
A World Health Organization official said at the same briefing that a contingency plan for Rafah had been prepared, which included a new field hospital, but said it would not be enough to prevent a substantial rise in the death toll.
"I want to really say that this contingency plan is a band-aid," said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the occupied Palestinian territory via video link. "It will absolutely not prevent the expected substantial additional mortality and morbidity caused by a military operation."
Other preparations include pre-positioning medical supplies at hospitals further north in case Rafah's three hospitals become non-functional, as has happened multiple times in the seven-month conflict due to Israeli raids and bombings.
In Gaza, the Israeli military has killed seven people, including four children, after bombing a house in Rafah overnight.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said yesterday that at least 34,622 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory during almost seven months of Israeli offensive. The tally includes at least 26 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said.
Meanwhile, Turkey will not resume trade with Israel, worth $7 billion a year, until a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian aid are secured in Gaza, it said yesterday, the first of Israel's key partners to halt trade over the conflict.
Hamas, which rules Gaza, praised the decision as brave and supportive of Palestinian rights.
Israel's "uncompromising attitude" and the worsening situation in Gaza's southern Rafah region prompted Turkey to halt all exports and imports, said Trade Minister Omer Bolat.
Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz criticised Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's move, announced late on Thursday, saying it breaks international trade agreements and was "how a dictator behaves".
"We decided to stop exports and imports to and from Israel until a permanent ceasefire is achieved (in Gaza) and humanitarian aid is allowed without interruption," the minister Bolat said.
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