Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing to Rafah amid fighting in the Gaza Strip. The situation in the city on the border with Egypt is already tense. If the mass exodus continues, it will have devastating consequences, warn the UN.
A mass exodus from the embattled town of Khan Yunis to the border town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip could have devastating consequences for the civilian population, according to a UN human rights expert. The city on the border with Egypt is already home to more than 1.3 million of the Gaza Strip’s 2.2 million inhabitants, said Ajith Sunghay.
The situation there is already very tense because of the masses of internally displaced people and a lack of food, said the head of the UN human rights office for the Palestinian territories in a video link from Jordan.
Gray areas: Built-up areas in the Gaza Strip, hatching: Israeli army
“Complete collapse of public order”
“If many people flee Khan Yunis and other places, it will lead to a massive disaster,” said Sunghay. A mass exodus to Rafah could lead to “unrest and a complete breakdown of public order.” According to Sunghay, if the fighting between the Israeli army and the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas moved to Rafah, the civilian population would no longer have a chance to escape.
The UN human rights office in Geneva has repeatedly called for the protection of the Palestinian civilian population in letters and public appeals to Israeli authorities. “We have not received an official response,” Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said.
Fierce fighting in Khan Yunis
Meanwhile, Israel’s army says it is continuing its intensive fighting in the city of Khan Yunis. The military said soldiers attacked dozens of Hamas targets there. There were also deaths in various operations. “Terrorists were killed by the troops during fighting in the area,” the army said.
Khan Yunis is the largest city in the south of the Gaza Strip and is considered a stronghold of the radical Islamist Hamas. Israel suspects that the leadership of the terrorist organization as well as Israeli hostages are in the tunnel network in the area.
Israel: contact with hospitals
The military announced during the night that in order to ensure the operation of the Nasser Clinic and the Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis, they were in contact with their directors and the medical staff on site. Before the operations against Hamas in the area, it was also ensured that both hospitals were supplied with sufficient fuel and supplies. According to the army, there is no obligation to bring people from the two clinics to safety.
According to UN figures, around 18,000 internally displaced people sought protection in Nasser Hospital alone. According to the army, many people have voluntarily decided to leave the hospitals. There is an escape corridor for them. The Israeli military dismissed reports of sieges or attacks on the two hospitals as “blatant misinformation.”
UNRWA: Clinics are surrounded
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday that Israeli units had bombed and shelled the area around Amal Hospital. Rescue workers and those seeking help could no longer reach it.
The two clinics are surrounded, said the Gaza director of the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, Thomas White, on Thursday. Because of the heavy fighting nearby, people were stuck there and life-saving operations were hindered. The medical staff and patients are extremely afraid. According to the Israeli army, there is evidence that Hamas is using both clinics for its own purposes.
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by the Palestinian and Israeli conflict parties cannot be directly verified by an independent body.