Israeli military operations in Rafah “could lead to carnage in Gaza”, warned the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Martin Griffiths, calling on Israel to “not continue to ignore” the appeals of the international community.

“More than half the population of Gaza — well over a million people — are crowded into Rafah, seeing death coming: they have little food, virtually no access to medical care, nowhere to sleep, no safe place “, he commented in a statement, describing an “attack unimaginable in intensity, brutality and scale”.

“I have been saying for weeks that our humanitarian response has collapsed. I am sounding the alarm once again: military operations in Rafah could lead to carnage in Gaza. They could also lead to the abyss of already fragile humanitarian operations.” , he added.

“We have neither the security guarantees, nor the supplies to supply, nor the personnel necessary to continue these operations.”

“The international community has warned of the dangerous consequences of any ground invasion of Rafah. The government of Israel cannot continue to ignore these calls,” he stressed. “History will not be forgiving. This war must stop.”

More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have taken refuge in Rafah, many of them stranded on the border with Egypt and living in makeshift tents.

Gaza truce talks involving the United States, Egypt, Israel and Qatar ended today without progress, amid growing calls for Israel not to go ahead with its planned assault on Rafah.

“I sincerely hope that the negotiations for the release of the hostages and some form of cessation of hostilities will be successful, to prevent a full-scale attack on Rafah,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters today. “This would have disastrous consequences,” he stressed.