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"Military activities in this area, this densely populated area,
would be, of course, an unfathomable catastrophe... and would
even further expand the humanitarian disaster beyond
imagination," said Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative for
Gaza and the West Bank.
More than one million Palestinians crammed into Rafah at the
southern tip of the Gaza Strip, on the border with Egypt, where
many are living in tent camps and makeshift shelters after
fleeing Israeli bombardments elsewhere in Gaza.
The Israeli military says it wants to flush out Islamist
militants from hideouts in Rafah and free hostages being held
there after the Hamas rampage in Israel on Oct. 7, but has given
no details of a proposed plan to evacuate civilians.
The United Nations said that an Israeli offensive there could
"lead to a slaughter."
"It will also increase the burden on a completely
overburdened... health system on its knees and increase the
trauma burden and it would push the health system closer to the
brink of collapse," Peeperkorn said.
Peeperkorn said WHO's ability to distribute medical aid to Gaza
was limited because many of its requests to deliver supplies had
been denied.
He said that only 40% of WHO's missions to northern Gaza had
been authorized from November, and that this figure had dropped
significantly since January.
"All of these missions have been denied, impeded, or postponed,"
he said, adding it was "absurd" that only 45% of WHO's mission
requests for southern Gaza had been granted.
Israel has previously denied blocking the entry of aid.
"Even when there is no ceasefire, humanitarian corridors should
exist so that WHO, the U.N. can do their job," Peeperkorn said.
(Reporting by Cécile Mantovani and Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber;
Editing by Ros Russell)
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