Jens Larcke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, said a military operation in Rafah “could lead to massacres”.
“For agencies already struggling to provide humanitarian aid in Gaza, a ground offensive would be a devastating blow,” he told reporters. “Any ground operation would mean more suffering and death.”
The bloodiest Gaza war ever began on October 7, 2023, after an unprecedented attack on southern Israel by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
The attack killed 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
The militants also took about 250 people hostage, of whom Israel estimates 128 remain in Gaza. The army says 35 of them are dead.
Israel's sustained retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 34,000 people in Gaza – the majority of whom are women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
