The director-general of the World Health Organization called on Israel not to attack Rafah “in the name of humanity”.

“I am very concerned about the reports of an Israeli plan to launch a ground attack against Rafah. A new escalation of violence in this densely populated area would cause more death and suffering,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote in X.

“In the name of humanity, we call on Israel not to go ahead and act for peace,” he wrote, assessing that the evacuation of the zone, as envisaged by the Israeli army’s plan, before the attack is not a feasible solution.

“The 1.2 million people who are in Rafah have nowhere safe to go, there is no safe and fully functioning health infrastructure that they could access in other areas of Gaza.”

“Many people are too vulnerable, hungry and sick to move again,” the WHO chief wrote.

Israel announced yesterday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approves Israeli military operational plans for attack on Rafahin the southern part of the Palestinian enclave on the border with Egypt, where a large number of Palestinians chased by the Israeli offensive in the northern, central and southern Gaza Strip have taken refuge.

The pre-announced Israeli attack, against which the United States and the UN have issued repeated warnings, could occur if there is no ceasefire agreement or after a possible six-week truce.