UN agency says Israeli aggression forced over 1M Palestinians to flee Rafah

By Mohammad Sio

ISTANBUL (AA) – The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Monday that more than one million Palestinians have been forced to flee Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip due to continuous Israeli onslaughts.

“Forced displacement has pushed over 1 million people away from Rafah,” the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) revealed on X.

The situation has escalated dramatically, with thousands of families seeking refuge in damaged and destroyed residential areas in Khan Younis, it added.

“UNRWA keeps providing essential services despite increasing challenges,” it said.

It also described the conditions in Rafah as “unspeakable,” highlighting the severity of the crisis.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 36,400 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority being women and children, and over 82,600 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nearly eight months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in its latest ruling has ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio