“Today, I’m sounding the alarm once again: Military operations in Rafah could lead to a slaughter in Gaza. They could also leave an already fragile humanitarian operation at death’s door,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The scenario we have long dreaded is unraveling at alarming speed,” he said, as well over a million people are now crammed in the city.
They are staring death in the face, with little to eat, hardly any access to medical care, nowhere to sleep and nowhere safe to go.
Mr. Griffiths recalled that for more than four months, humanitarians have been doing the near impossible to assist people in need in Gaza despite the risks they faced and their own traumas.
“But no amount of dedication and goodwill is enough to keep millions of people alive, fed and protected – while the bombs are falling and the aid is choked off. Add to this the widespread despair, the breakdown of law and order, and the defunding of UNRWA,” he said, referring to the UN agency that assists the Palestinian people.
As result, humanitarian workers have been shot at, held at gunpoint, attacked, and killed, he said. They lack the safety guarantees, aid supplies and the staff capacity to keep operations afloat.
“The international community has been warning against the dangerous consequences of any ground invasion in Rafah. The Government of Israel cannot continue to ignore these calls. History will not be kind. This war must end,” his statement concluded.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ar-BB1imf0h
