News Center- Israel has been attacking the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023. At least 34,789 Palestinians, including 14,944 children and 9,849 women, have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian health authorities.

After Hamas accepted the Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal, Israel's War Cabinet decided to continue the Rafah operation. On May 6, the Israeli army ordered the evacuation of some neighborhoods of Rafah, which hosts more than 1 million displaced Palestinians and then launched a military operation on the city Rafah, seizing operational control of the border crossing that is a major route for humanitarian aid.

 ‘Tens of thousands of people have been forcibly displaced’

Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) posted a statement on X. “In just a matter of days, tens of thousands of people have been forcibly displaced yet again. The closing of the Rafah crossing severs access to fuel and shuts off the movement of aid and staff to and from Gaza,” Martin Griffiths said in the statement.

“Civilians must be protected and have their basic needs met, whether they move or stay. Those who evacuate must have enough time to do so, as well as a safe route and a safe place to go,” he added.

UN teams are still in Rafah, where well over 1 million people remain, including 600,000 children, he said.

“We are also extending our presence northwards to assist the families who have moved there. We remain committed to providing aid to people regardless of where they are.

“The decisions that are made today and their consequences in human suffering will be remembered by the generation that follows us. Let us be ready for their reproaches,” the statement said.

‘Rafah is a city of children’

“Rafah is a city of children," UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said in a Palais des Nations briefing in Geneva on May 7. “If we define safety – as international humanitarian law says we must – as freedom from bombardment, as well as access to safe water, sufficient food, shelter and medicine – then there is nowhere safe on the Gaza strip to go to.”