Intensified hostilities in Rafah may lead to 'large scale' loss of civilian lives, warns UN humanitarian office

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - "Everything possible" must be done to avoid intensified hostilities in the Rafah city in southern Gaza, which may lead to a "large scale" loss of civilian lives, the UN humanitarian office warned on Tuesday.

"We can warn what might unfold with the ground invasion and we can make clear what the law says and ... under international humanitarian law, indiscriminate bombing of densely populated areas may amount to war crimes," Jens Laerke, the spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told a UN briefing in Geneva.

"So to be clear, intensified hostilities in Rafah in this situation could lead to large scale loss of civilian lives, and we must do everything possible within our power to avoid that," Laerke urged.

Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant recently announced Rafah as the army's next target in a press conference, claiming that it is the last remaining stronghold of the Palestinian group Hamas.

Tel Aviv has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in which Israel says nearly 1,200 Israelis were killed.

At least 27,585 Palestinians have been killed and 66,978 others injured in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, the Health Ministry in the enclave said on Tuesday.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.