Israel's planned military push into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the last bastion of refuge for more than a million Palestinians, "could lead to a slaughter," UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths warned Tuesday.
"The international community has been warning against the dangerous consequences of any ground invasion in Rafah.
The Government of Israel cannot continue to ignore these calls," Griffiths said in a statement.
"Military operations in Rafah could lead to a slaughter in Gaza."
Israel faced growing international pressure Tuesday to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas, as it prepared for an incursion into the crowded southern Gaza city of Rafah where more than a million Palestinians are trapped.
CIA director William Burns met Mossad chief David Barnea in Cairo for talks on a Qatari-brokered plan to temporarily halt fighting in exchange for freeing hostages.
The negotiations, which also involved Qatar's prime minister and Egyptian officials, were "positive" and would continue for three more days, said Egypt's Al-Qahera News, citing a senior Egyptian official.
The Cairo meeting came after the United States and United Nations warned Israel against a ground offensive into Rafah without a plan to protect civilians, who say they have nowhere left to go.
With Rafah on edge, some residents began dismantling makeshift tents and prepared to move on again. "We are sleeping in the street, (the tent) doesn't have a roof, it's made of nylon -- if it gets hit by a missile, you will die instantly," said Gazan Fayez Abed. After White House talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday, US President Joe Biden said civilians in Rafah "need to be protected", calling them "exposed and vulnerable". King Abdullah pushed for a "lasting ceasefire", warning that an Israeli attack on Rafah would "produce another humanitarian catastrophe".
- 'We want to be ready'
- After rejecting Hamas's terms for a truce last week, Israel conducted a pre-dawn raid in Rafah on Monday that freed two hostages -- Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Luis Har, 70 -- and killed around 100 people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the operation as "perfect", while the Palestinian foreign ministry called the deaths of dozens of Gazans a "massacre".
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