An Israeli ground attack on Rafah would lead to “massive humanitarian disaster”, the UN Secretary-General warned today, after Israeli and Hamas negotiators walked out of cease-fire talks in Cairo without a deal.
“A massive ground attack on Rafah would lead to a massive humanitarian disaster and end our efforts to support populations as famine threatens,” Antonio Guterres said during a visit to Nairobi. The situation in this city in the southern Gaza Strip is “on a razor’s edge,” he added.
“We have been actively engaged with all parties concerned to resume the passage of critical supplies – including much-needed fuel – through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings,” Guterres said, repeating calls for a ceasefire .
The Kerem Shalom crossing, which Israel had closed for three days after Hamas rocket fire, reopened on Wednesday, but the delivery of aid remains “extremely difficult” according to the United Nations humanitarian affairs office (Ocha) in Palestinian territories.
Today Israel increased its strikes and artillery fire in the Gaza Strip, mainly in Rafah, AFP correspondents report.
In Rafah, the last town in southern Gaza before the border with Egypt, home to nearly 1.4 million Palestinians, military operations against Hamas are blocking humanitarian aid and have already pushed 110,000 people to flee, according to UN.
Yesterday, Thursday, a round of indirect talks aimed at a ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas, after seven months of war, ended without an agreement in Cairo.
US President Joe Biden had first threatened to halt arms deliveries to Israel, of which the United States is the main military backer, if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu followed through on his threat to attack Rafah.
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