On Tuesday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Israel to reopen the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings “immediately” to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip, and called on it to stop the escalation.

Guterres told reporters, "Closing the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings at the same time is particularly harmful to the already desperate humanitarian situation. They must be reopened immediately," warning that a "massive attack" on Rafah, which is crowded with citizens, would be a "humanitarian catastrophe."

On Tuesday morning, the Israeli occupation forces occupied the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing and stopped the flow of aid to the Gaza Strip.

By controlling the Rafah crossing, the Israeli forces closed the land crossing through which aid enters and the wounded and sick leave to receive treatment outside the Gaza Strip, in light of the deteriorating health situation in the Gaza areas as a result of the ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip.

The city of Rafah is the last refuge for the displaced in the afflicted Strip. Since the beginning of the ground operation launched by the Israeli forces on the Gaza Strip on the 27th of last October, citizens have been asked to go from the north and center of the Strip to the south, claiming that they are “safe areas.”

Today, Rafah, despite its small area estimated at about 65 square kilometers, accommodates more than 1.5 million Palestinians, the majority of whom were forced to flee there in search of safety.

The displaced people face miserable conditions inside thousands of tents spread throughout the city. Even the sidewalks are crowded with these tents, and the main roads have turned into crowded markets.

The Israeli occupation continues its land, sea and air aggression against the Gaza Strip since October 7, which resulted in the death of 34,789 citizens, the majority of whom were children and women, and the injury of 78,204 others, while thousands of victims remain under the rubble.