JAKARTA - A World Health Organization (WHO) official said on Tuesday the situation in the Gaza Strip, Palestine was getting worse as Israeli bombings in the southern region of Palestine around the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah intensified.
"The situation is getting worse from time to time," Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative in Gaza, told reporters via video link.
"There have been intensive bombings everywhere, including in the southern region, Khan Younis and even in Rafah," he continued.
Furthermore, Peeperkorn said that humanitarian aid reaching Gaza was too few, with WHO very concerned about the vulnerability of the health system in the densely populated region, as more and more people moved further south to avoid bombings.
"We will witness the same pattern as what is happening in the north," he said, referring to the northern region of Gaza, which was hit by a massive bomb and was almost cut off from humanitarian supplies.
"That can't happen. I want to clarify this, that we are seeing an increasing humanitarian catastrophe," he said.
Separately, Thomas White, director of the United Nations Palestinian body in Gaza, said more than 600,000 residents had been ordered to move, to avoid bombings.
"Rafah, which usually has a population of 280 thousand people and already accommodates around 470 thousand internally displaced people (IDP), will not be able to face a double increase in the number of refugees there," White wrote on social media platform X.
Meanwhile, James Elder, spokeswoman for UN child agency UNICEF, said the Gaza region designated as a safe territory by Israel did not meet basic requirements, warning that the absence of sanitation and shelters had created "perfect storm" for disease outbreaks.
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"This is a safe zone when you can guarantee the condition of food, water, medicine and shelter," he told reporters via video link from Cairo after visiting Gaza.
"I've seen for myself that these places don't exist at all. These are small plots of barren soil or are the corner of the road. It's a sidewalk. It's a half-finished building. There's no water," he explained.
"Only a ceasefire will save Gaza's children at this time," said Israel's approach to creating this zone inhumane and cold.
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