The United Nations reported on Friday that more than 100,000 people had left Rafah in recent days due to the possibility of a full-scale Israeli ground invasion of the southern Gaza metropolis.
The Israeli military on Monday issued an order for Gazans to evacuate eastern Rafah, causing considerable concern across the globe.
According to the UN children’s charity UNICEF, over 100,000 people have left, and the UN humanitarian agency OCHA reported over 110,000.
Georgios Petropoulos, head of OCHA’s sub-office in Gaza, stated that the situation in the besieged Palestinian enclave had reached “even more unprecedented levels of emergency.”
Countries around the world, including important Israeli ally the United States, have encouraged Israel not to extend its ground offensive into Rafah, citing concerns about a high civilian casualty rate.
UNICEF’s lead emergency coordinator in the Gaza Strip, Hamish Young, warned Rafah “must not be invaded” and demanded an immediate flow of fuel and aid into the Gaza Strip.
