Fallout of Rafah offensive would be ‘simply catastrophic’: UNRWA

Samah Hadid, spokeswoman for the Norwegian Refugee Council, says Israel’s evacuation order is “completely problematic, inhumane and unsafe”.
“The al-Mawasi where people are being ordered to evacuate to is not equipped to accommodate” more internally displaced people as it already hosts hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, Hadid told Al Jazeera.
“It does not have enough humanitarian assistance and services to support additional displaced population,” she said.

Hadid called the evacuation order “the start of a nightmare scenario for the people of Rafah who have been terrified for months now over what it is to come”.
She said aid agencies “are also terrified” because a Rafah offensive would lead to the collapse of the aid response.
“It’s really reliant on the Rafah hub to distribute aid to organise aid throughout that area,” Hadid added.

Spokesman of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Jonathan Fowler, on Monday spoke to Al Jazeera from occupied East Jerusalem on Israel’s evacuation order in Rafah ahead of the planned ground offensive:
“We are in a situation where any large-scale advances from Israeli forces in Rafah are going to mean more suffering and death.
“The consequence would be devastating for the population of Rafah that’s six times the pre-war population – half of the 1.4 million people are children. Most of these people have been displaced many times already. The challenge is insurmountable at this stage.
“Unexploded ordinances have to be cleared before people return to an area and live in safety. Otherwise, you are pushing people to an area where their lives are at risk.
“Nowhere is safe in the Gaza Strip, people have been constantly displaced over and over again. Even contingency plans offer little solace. The fallout from such an offensive would be simply catastrophic.”

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