Israel-Gaza latest: UN warns aid operations to run out in days as Netanyahu vows to carry out Rafah attack
Dwindling food and fuel stocks could force aid operations to grind to a halt within days in Gaza as vital crossings remain shut, forcing hospitals to shut down and leading to more malnutrition, the United Nations has warned.
Georgios Petropoulos, the head of the Gaza sub-office of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the situation in the enclave had reached “even more unprecedented levels of emergency” as Israel prepares for an offensive in the southern region of Rafah.
The Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza remained one of the last areas through which humanitarian aid could be transferred, but it has been closed since Israeli tanks rolled through it on Monday ahead of their expected attack, which they say will root out the remaining Hamas militants in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defied calls from the US President Joe Biden to refrain from such an attack, saying that Israel has “no choice” but to go ahead or risk another Hamas attack like the one last October, which killed 1,200 people and led to around 250 being taken hostage.
- For more: Elrisala website and for social follow us on Facebook
- Source of information and images “independent“
