UN Official: Invasion of Rafah Would be “Tragedy Beyond Words”

The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths warned that the invasion of the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, which is crowded with more than 1.5 million Palestinians, would be a "tragedy beyond words". "The simplest truth is that a ground operation in Rafah will be nothing short of a tragedy beyond words. No humanitarian plan can counter that. The rest is detail," Griffiths said in a statement. "The world has been appealing to the Israeli authorities for weeks to spare Rafah, but a ground operation there is on the immediate horizon", he added. The UN official pointed out that for the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled to Gazas southernmost point to escape disease, famine, mass graves and direct fighting, as a ground invasion would spell even more trauma and death. Griffiths also warned that for agencies struggling to provide humanitarian aid despite the active hostilities, impassable roads, unexploded ordnance, fu el shortages, delays at checkpoints, and Israeli restrictions, a ground invasion would strike a disastrous blow. The Israeli occupation forces continue their unprecedented aggression against the Gaza Strip, by land, sea and air, since Oct. 7, killing 34,535 Palestinians and injuring 77,704 others. Meanwhile, thousands of victims remain under the rubble and on the roads as ambulance and rescue crews are unable to reach them. Source: Qatar News Agency