United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned of a “massive humanitarian catastrophe” threatening the residents of the Gaza Strip if Israeli forces invaded the city of Rafah, at a time when those forces prevented the entry of more than 400 aid trucks, threatening the occurrence of famine for more than 1.7 million people living in the south. Gaza.

More than 200,000 citizens have been displaced from the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, since the occupation army began an attack on the eastern neighborhoods of the city last Monday.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza said that the occupation forces prevented for the fifth day the entry of trucks of medicines and medical and relief supplies into the Strip, amid warnings of a “wave of starvation” in Rafah, and that the amount of fuel in its hospitals is sufficient for only 3 days.

The Ministry explained that its hospitals in Rafah were out of service, due to the occupation’s threat of evacuation and violent bombing, and that there was no place to treat the sick and wounded, especially critical cases.

For his part, Scott Anderson, Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip, said that the agency did not receive any aid or fuel through the Rafah crossing in the southern Strip.

Anderson explained, "We do not receive any aid in the Gaza Strip, and the Rafah crossing area is witnessing military operations and continuous bombing throughout the day."

In a related development, the Director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that the amount of fuel in hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip is sufficient for only 3 days.

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He added, "The closure of the border crossing still prevents the United Nations from bringing fuel. Without fuel, all humanitarian operations will stop, and the closure of the borders also hinders the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza."

He continued, "At a time when fragile humanitarian operations urgently need to expand, the Rafah military operation further limits our ability to reach thousands of people, who live in miserable conditions without sufficient food, sanitation, health services, and security."

During a visit to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, yesterday, Guterres said, “We are actively working with all parties concerned to resume the entry of life-saving supplies, including much-needed fuel, through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings.” He added that famine looms on the horizon.

At the same time, Georgios Petropoulos, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza, said, “The latest evacuation order issued by the Israeli government related to the military operation has so far affected 110,000 people or more who have been displaced north.”

He added during the regular United Nations press conference in Geneva that "most of these people have been forced to flee 5 or 6 times" since the beginning of the Israeli war on Gaza.

Petropoulos confirmed that 30,000 people are displaced from Rafah every day, explaining that without supplies in the coming days, it is expected that a large number of health facilities will lack the fuel necessary to continue working, and stressed that the situation has reached “unprecedented emergency levels.”

In turn, Hamish Young, chief emergency coordinator at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in the Gaza Strip, stressed the need for the Israeli army to refrain from invading Rafah, and called for the immediate flow of fuel and aid to the Strip.

Speaking from Rafah, he said, "Yesterday I was walking around the Al-Mawasi area, where Rafah residents were asked to move to."

He added, "More than 100,000 people have fled Rafah during the past five days, and the displacement is still continuing."

He explained, "Shelters are increasing on the sand dunes in Al-Mawasi, and it has now become difficult to move between the mass of tents and tarpaulins."