GENEVA: The United Nations human rights office said on Friday that an Israeli offensive in Gaza's border town of Rafah could not be allowed to happen because it would cause massive loss of Palestinian lives.
"Should Israel launch its threatened military offensive into Rafah, where 1.5 million people have been displaced in deplorable, subhuman conditions, any ground assault on Rafah would incur massive loss of life and would heighten the risk of further atrocity crimes," said Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the U.N. Human Rights Office. "This must not be allowed to happen."
Defying international calls to halt its military operation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would push on with its offensive against the Palestinian movements, including into Rafah, which he described as "the last stronghold".
About 1.5 million people are estimated to be crammed into Rafah, on the southernmost fringe of the enclave against the border with Egypt, most of them having fled homes further north to escape Israel's onslaught.
"We also fear that further Israeli restrictions on access by Palestinians to East Jerusalem and the Al Aqsa mosque during Ramadan could further inflame tensions," Laurence said.
Al-Aqsa is one of the holiest sites for Muslims and its compound overlooks the Western Wall, the most sacred place of prayer for Jews. As such, the area has long been a flashpoint for potential violence, particularly during religious holidays.
In a statement to mark the holiday, the Gaza health ministry said 60,000 pregnant women in the enclave were suffering from dehydration and malnutrition.
"Five thousand pregnant women give birth each month in Gaza amid harsh, insecure, and unhealthy conditions because of the bombardment and displacement," the statement said.
Health officials in Gaza say nearly 9,000 of the 30,878 people confirmed killed in Israel's offensive were women, and another 13,000 are children of both sexes.
With acute hunger now spreading across the enclave and virtually no food available, mothers and small children are the most vulnerable. Though the crisis has not yet lasted long enough for starvation to kill the huge numbers associated with famine, it is already the most widespread hunger emergency ever witnessed by the IPC, an international body tasked with assessing famine. The IPC reported last month that Gaza was already experiencing "the highest share of people facing high levels of acute food insecurity the IPC has ever classified for any given area or country".
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