UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. UN human rights chief: Rafah offensive is unacceptable Human Rights
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk issued a statement on Sunday expressing deep concern over the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip amid intense airstrikes by Israeli forces. He once again warned of the tragic consequences of a possible full-scale invasion of Rafah, recalling the desperate situation of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
Evacuation order
“Since May 6, when the IDF ordered the evacuation of Palestinians in eastern Rafah, more than 278,000 people have been forced to flee their homes. Among them are people with disabilities, the chronically ill, the elderly, the wounded, pregnant women and many others who physically cannot move without assistance,” Turk noted. – The latest evacuation orders affect almost a million people in Rafah. So where do they go now? There is no safe place in Gaza!”
“These exhausted, hungry people, many of whom have already been forced to leave their homes many times , there are no good options left,” the High Commissioner noted. According to him, cities throughout Gaza, including Khan Yunis, which is supposed to receive those who are forced to leave Rafah today, have already been reduced to ruins and continue to be shelled.
“Possibility of new atrocities”
“I have repeatedly expressed alarm about the catastrophic consequences of a possible full-scale offensive on Rafah, including the possibility of new atrocities,” Turk noted. “I do not see how the latest evacuation orders, much less a full-scale assault on an area with an extremely dense civilian population, can comply with the mandatory requirements of international humanitarian law and the two sets of mandatory provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice.”
Acute shortage of fuel
Türk recalled that due to the ban on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza through three checkpoints, The sector faces severe fuel shortages that are affecting everything from movement to food distribution, hospitals and emergency services, wastewater treatment and telecommunications. “I am also very concerned about the safety of aid workers in the affected areas. I repeat once again: a full-scale offensive on Rafah is unacceptable,” Turk said. ~p>He called on all states that could influence the course of events to do everything to protect lives, and on Israel and the Palestinian armed groups to immediately agree to a ceasefire and immediately release all hostages.