ANP Productions | Source: ANP
Today at 3:23 PM
Rafah
The United Nations humanitarian arms have condemned Israeli actions in Rafah. The Israeli army took over the Palestinian side of the border crossing after a night of bombardments. Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for aid agency OCHA, said this morning was “one of the darkest in this seven-month nightmare.”
Laerke says Israel has ignored all warnings about the impact of an offensive in Rafah and panic has now spread in the southern Gaza city. James Elder of children’s rights organization UNICEF says “our worst fears have come true.”
Israel called on 100,000 Palestinian civilians to evacuate from Rafah on Monday, but the UN Office for Human Rights said this is not possible. There are no safe routes to the north and there are no safe places there with sufficient sanitary facilities and food supplies. The vast majority of humanitarian aid enters the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing.
The Israeli government has also called on international organizations to leave areas where the armed forces operate.
