We are in a race to stave off hunger and death, and we are losing, Martin Griffiths said.
UN humanitarian aid chief Martin Griffiths has issued a statement warning that a ground operation on Rafah is “on the immediate horizon” despite the world “appealing to the Israeli authorities for weeks to spare” the Palestinian city.
Israel’s plan to send ground forces into the last civilian refuge in the Gaza Strip — where more than 1 million people fled in search of safety from Israeli attacks — will “spell even more trauma and death”, Griffiths warns.
“We are in a race to stave off hunger and death, and we are losing,” he posted on X.
“For agencies struggling to provide humanitarian aid despite the active hostilities, impassable roads, unexploded ordnance, fuel shortages, delays at checkpoints, and Israeli restrictions, a ground invasion would strike a disastrous blow,” he added.
“The simplest truth is that a ground operation in Rafah will be nothing short of a tragedy beyond words. No humanitarian plan can counter that.”
UN Palestinian agency chief seeks probe into treatment of Gaza staff by Israel
The head of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) has called for countries to back an independent investigation into alleged killings and detentions of its staff and damage to its premises once the Israeli bombardment of Gaza ends, Reuters reports.
After briefing UN member states in Geneva, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told reporters he wanted the countries to back an independent investigation “to look into this blatant disregard of the United Nations in order to avoid that this becomes also in the future the new standard.”
Lazzarini said Israel blocked him from entering Gaza last month, and that he plans to visit again on Sunday. He voiced hope that Israel would let him in.
Food and other humanitarian aid supplies to Gaza have improved in April, but there is still far from enough to reverse the trend towards famine, he said.
