UN halts Rafah food distribution due to shortages and hostilities – BBC News

After seven months of war in Gaza, Israel has insisted victory is impossible without taking Rafah and eliminating the last remaining Hamas battalions there.

But the UN and Western powers have warned that an all-out assault could lead to mass civilian casualties and a humanitarian catastrophe.

On 6 May, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ordered residents of eastern Rafah to evacuate for their own safety before it began what it called “precise operations” against Hamas operatives and infrastructure.

Since then, troops have advanced into central neighbourhoods and taken control of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. The crossing remains closed, while the UN says the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel is too dangerous to access.

On Monday, Israel’s Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, declared that it was “committed to broadening the ground operation in Rafah”.

Unrwa said in a report on Tuesday that it had been forced to suspend food distribution because the Israeli operation had left its distribution centre and a WFP warehouse inaccessible.

When asked about the ramifications, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York: “People don’t eat.”

It is not clear how many people are still living in the Rafah area. But the head of Unwa implied it was more than 800,000 on Sunday, when he said that “nearly half of the population are on the road”.

The IDF has told them to head to an “expanded humanitarian area” that stretches from nearby al-Mawasi to the central town of Deir al-Balah and said they will find field hospitals, tents, food and other supplies.

However, the UN has said nowhere is safe in Gaza and that the designated area is already crammed with people and does not have clean drinking water supplies and sanitation facilities.

The IDF said on Tuesday that its soldiers were continuing “targeted raids on… terrorist infrastructure and buildings” in eastern Rafah, and that it had “eliminated dozens of terrorists” who tried to approach them.

Another statement said it was facilitating “the passage of hundreds of trucks containing food, water, medical supplies, and shelter equipment” across Gaza.

It reported that 381 aid lorries were transferred via Kerem Shalom on Tuesday and that another 70 entered northern Gaza via the Erez West crossing. But it also noted 650 lorry loads remained waiting for collection by aid agencies at the two crossings.

As well as saying that Kerem Shalom is difficult to access safely, the UN has noted that areas in the vicinity of Erez West are under other Israeli evacuation orders.