UN warns over 'rapidly worsening' security situation in Rafah

HAMILTON, Canada

The UN issued stark warnings Monday about the deteriorating security situation in Gaza amid Israel's military offensive, particularly in the southern city of Rafah.

Emphasizing the urgency of resuming peace talks, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, highlighted the desperate situation in Rafah at a UN Security Council session.

Saying that the situation in the city is "becoming increasingly desperate and dangerous for the already besieged population," he urged all parties to "redouble all efforts and return to the negotiating table immediately and in good faith."

Wennesland expressed deep concern for the civilians and hostages in Rafah, noting that "if (cease-fire) talks do not resume, I fear for the worst for the beleaguered and terrified civilians in Rafah, for the hostages held in unimaginable conditions for more than 225 days, and for an overstretched humanitarian operation that remains on the brink in the (Gaza) Strip."

Noting the "rapidly worsening" security situation in Rafah since the start of Israel’s military operation, he said "these events have had a significant impact on humanitarian operations and access."

"The so-called expanded humanitarian area in al-Mawasi lacks adequate shelter, food, water and sewage infrastructure," Wennesland added.

He also warned that a larger-scale operation "will further undermine efforts to scale up the entry of humanitarian goods and their safe distribution to desperate civilians."

Echoing Wennesland, Edem Wosornu, director of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' Operations and Advocacy Division, said "to be frank, we are running out of words to describe what is happening in Gaza. We have described it as a catastrophe, a nightmare, as hell on earth. It is all of these, and worse."

Drawing attention to the massive displacement crisis, Wosornu said: "Since October 2023, 75% of the population in Gaza – or 1.7 million people – has been forcibly displaced within Gaza, many of them up to four or five times."

Calling for the need to guarantee the right of forcibly displaced Gazans to voluntarily return, she stressed that "the Rafah ground incursion is magnifying impediments to an already fragile and beleaguered aid operation."

Though she welcomed the floating pier off Gaza’s coast set up by the US, Wosornu emphasized that "land routes remain the most viable and effective way to deliver the scale of aid needed."

She concluded by calling for a cease-fire and halt to the ground incursion in Rafah "that will fully protect civilians, create the conditions for humanitarians to provide assistance at the required scale, and stem the endlessly deepening toll of this travesty in Gaza."