.People leave Rafah with everything they can take with them “in cars, trucks, motorcycles and donkey carts.” War in Gaza: 80 thousand people left Rafah Peace and security
According to UN humanitarian organizations working in Gaza, about 80 thousand people have fled Rafah since the beginning of the week amid ongoing Israeli bombing of the strip’s southernmost city.
Most of those ordered evacuated by the Israeli military from eastern Rafah had previously been displaced from other areas of Gaza. They are now leaving the city with everything they can take with them “in cars, trucks, motorcycles and donkey carts,” the Palestine Refugee Agency in the Near East (UNRWA) said.
More than 47,500 people fled their shelters in Rafah in just one day on Wednesday, according to UNRWA. Some families headed to agency shelters in Tel Sultan, as well as Al-Mawasi in the west of the enclave.
Intense bombing
In its latest press release, UNRWA reported “continuing intense bombardment” in eastern Rafah throughout the night and into Thursday morning.
UN humanitarian agencies again warned on the lack of emergency care for vulnerable populations in Gaza – despite reports that the Kerem Shalom crossing near Rafah has reopened.
“We are engaging with all stakeholders to resume the import of goods, including fuel,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Wednesday. “However, the situation remains extremely unstable, and we continue to face a number of problems in the context of active hostilities currently underway. We look forward to your cooperation and assistance in reopening the crossings as supplies of critical goods, including fuel, are running low by the hour.”
The Kerem Shalom crossing was closed last weekend after deadly rocket attack, for which Hamas claimed responsibility. This checkpoint is adjacent to Rafah, which remains the main entry point for aid into Gaza.
Aid delivery delays
According to OCHA, more than a quarter of humanitarian missions in northern Gaza in April “were obstructed by Israeli authorities, and one in ten were denied.” “The UN and humanitarian partners continue efforts to scale up relief operations wherever possible,” it said.
On Wednesday, the UN World Food Program (WFP) said its staff had managed to reach Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, which had been inaccessible for several months.
In a post on the X website, the agency said it was ready to increase food aid in northern Gaza. “However, a stable supply of food is needed to end six months of famine,” the WFP stressed.
Violence in the West Bank
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) warned on Thursday that violations of the rights of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have increased significantly.
“Army Israeli defense is acting as if there is a war going on in the West Bank,” Ajit Sunghai, head of the OHCHR office in the occupied Palestinian territory, said in an interview with UN News Service.
In his In its latest update on the situation in the West Bank, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the Israeli Supreme Court had ruled in favor of the return of 360 Palestinians to their homes in the Khirbet Zanuta community in Hebron, six months after they were displaced by settler attacks.