Antonio Guterres, the head of the UN, pleaded with Israel on Tuesday not to launch an invasion of Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, following the Israeli prime minister’s declaration that an offensive would go despite a possible hostage agreement with Hamas.
“A military assault on Rafah would be an unbearable escalation, killing thousands more civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee,” the secretary-general told reporters.
Such an operation “would have a devastating impact on Palestinians in Gaza, with serious repercussions on the occupied West Bank and across the wider region,” he added.
“All members of the Security Council, and many other governments, have clearly expressed their opposition to such an operation. I appeal for all those with influence over Israel to do everything in their power to prevent it.”
The most recent warning from Guterres comes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the Israeli army would begin a ground operation on the far-southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah “with or without” a cease-fire agreement being reached with Hamas.
Since October 7, when Hamas started a devastating and unprecedented offensive on Israel, nearly 1.5 million Palestinians have fled Israel’s shelling, which has devastated the territory. Since then, Rafah has become a haven for these refugees.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, has vowed to crush Hamas and stated that it is “out of the question” for the Israeli army to end the war “before achieving all of its goals.”
Along with demanding an independent probe, Guterres expressed alarm on Tuesday about reports of mass graves found at Gaza’s two main hospitals and claims that people buried there were unlawfully executed.
“It is imperative that independent international investigators with forensic expertise are allowed the immediate access to the sites of these mass graves to establish the precise circumstances under which the Palestinians lost their lives and were buried or reburied,” the UN chief said.
