UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned of an Israeli “incursion” into the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, where Israel threatens a wide-scale ground attack, deeming it “unacceptable” and urging the Israeli government and Hamas movement to “make additional efforts” to reach a ceasefire.
Guterres, while receiving Italian President Sergio Mattarella, stated to reporters that “a ground incursion into Rafah would be intolerable due to its devastating humanitarian consequences and its destabilizing impact on the region.”
“I have today made a very strong appeal to the Israeli government and Hamas leadership to make additional efforts to reach an agreement, which is extremely vital. This is an opportunity that cannot be missed,” he added.
Stéphane Dujarric, Guterres’s spokesperson, echoed similar sentiments shortly after Hamas announced its acceptance of the mediators’ ceasefire proposal.
On Monday morning, the Israeli army instructed residents of eastern areas in Rafah to evacuate and move to areas northwest of Rafah, indicating that the operation would involve 100,000 people.
Dujarric told reporters that “the evacuation orders issued today for eastern Rafah will simply lead to increased civilian suffering (…) It is impossible to carry out a mass evacuation of this size safely.”
Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, deemed the evacuation orders issued for residents of eastern Rafah as “inhumane.”
