Head Of UN Humanitarian Aid Warns Possible Spices Of Gazans To Egypt

JAKARTA - The head of UN humanitarian aid on Thursday warned of a possible overflow of Palestinians displaced in Rafah to Egypt if Israel launched a military operation against the border city.

This refers to Israel's plan to expand its military operations to the Rafah, which is in the south of Gaza, after last week launched special operations and airstrikes against the city.

"The possibility of military operations in Rafah, with the possibility of closing crossings, with a possible spill, a kind of Egyptian nightmare, is something that lies in our eyes," Martin Griffiths said.

Griffiths further said that the notion that Gazans could flee to a safe place was an "illution".

"We all have to hope that Israeli friends and those who care about Israel's security give them good advice right now," Griffiths said.

Speaking at the same meeting with Griffiths, Mirjana Spoljaric, head of the International Red Cross Committee (ICRC), said the absence of clear evacuation plans, including for sick and elderly people, would bring suffering to a new level.

"Suffering on both sides, the massacres we have witnessed since October 7 will reach an inconceivable level if operations in Rafah are intensified as announced," said Spoljaric.

More than a million Palestinians are crammed into the Rafah at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, the border with Egypt.

Many of them live in tents and temporary shelters after fleeing Israeli bombings elsewhere in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it plans to expel Palestinian militant Hamas from hiding in Rafah, free the hostages detained there, but has not provided details on the proposed plan to evacuate civilians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faced international pressure to delay the planned attack, gave no indication of when the attack would take place.

Separately, the United Nations said Israel's attack on Rafah could "corresponding to the massacre".