Oxfam 'horrified' by evacuation order in Rafah, says Israeli invasion would be 'catastrophic'

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - UK-based charity Oxfam on Monday expressed deep concern over Israel's evacuation order in Rafah, warning that a military offensive would be a "catastrophic" as there is "no safe place to go."

In a statement, Sally Abi-Khalil, Oxfam’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Director, said that Israel's evacuation order appears to an "impending invasion of Rafah," despite calls from world leaders urging Tel Aviv to "stop its continued, barbaric, onslaught."

"For over six months, Israel has deliberately and systematically targeted civilians and aid workers, including in clearly marked ‘safe zones’ and ‘evacuation routes’. Any claims it now makes that civilians can be safely evacuated, have lost credibility," she said.

Regarding Al-Mawasi area, a humanitarian safe zone where people have been told to flee, Abi-Khalil recalled that the area has already been targeted twice.

"It's unfathomable that one government is allowed to ignore all warnings of the catastrophic humanitarian cost with full impunity, and to callously press forward in chilling disregard for human life, international law, and the ICJ ruling to prevent genocide," she added.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civ

"This ground invasion must not be allowed to happen," she noted, calling on countries who have given financial, military support to Israel and "carte blanche to commit war crimes," to act before "more atrocities take place."

Earlier, the charity reiterated its concerns over a possible Israeli military offensive in Gaza city of Rafah.

"A military invasion in Rafah would be CATASTROPHIC. Almost 1.3 million people, including at least half a million children, are now crammed into this small city in #Gaza," Oxfam wrote on X.

Reacting the "evacuations," it says there can be no more "evacuations" as there is "no safe place to go."

Israel has reportedly begun evacuating some neighborhoods in Rafah despite widespread opposition from the international community to its plans to invade the city.

Rafah is home to more than 1.5 million Palestinians, who have taken refuge from the war launched by Israel following a Hamas attack last Oct. 7 that killed some 1,200 people.

Since then, the Israeli onslaught has killed more than 34,600 Palestinians, mostly women and children, besides causing a humanitarian catastrophe.

Nearly seven months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine, according to the UN.