New York, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, warned that Israeli invasion of southern blockaded Gaza Strip city of Rafah which is crowded with more than 1.5 million Palestinians, will be ‘a tragedy beyond words’.
‘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. The rest is detail’ Palestinian Wafa Agency quoted Griffiths as saying in a statement.
He added: ‘The world has been appealing to Israeli authorities for weeks to spare Rafah, but a ground operation there is on the immediate horizon.’
Griffiths said that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have fled to Gaza’s southernmost point to escape disease, famine, mass graves and direct fighting, a ground invasion would spell even more trauma and death.’
He warned that ‘For agencies struggling to provide humanitarian aid despite impassable roads, unexploded ordnance, fuel shortages, delays
at checkpoints, and Israeli restrictions, a ground invasion would strike a disastrous blow’. We are in a race to stave off hunger and death, and we are losing,’ he added.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency