United Nations Chief Antonio Guterres Says An Israeli Military Offensive in Rafah Would Have “Devastating Consequences”

TIME

There are no safe havens in Gaza. That much has been clear since the early weeks of the war, when half of the Strip’s population was ordered to flee south amid unrelenting bombardment in preparation for an Israeli ground invasion. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians heeded that call in the hopes that they might be spared from the deadly violence that has killed more than 28,000 people to date. As the Israeli ground offensive moved south, so did they, with many ultimately ending up in the Strip’s southernmost city of Rafah. Now, as Israel announces its intention to direct its offensive towards Rafah—which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dubbed the “last bastion” of Hamas—more than half of the Strip’s 2.2 million population fear being caught in the crossfire.

Transcript

00:00 Prime Minister Netanyahu doesn't take your phone calls, you have not been able to speak

00:04 to him despite your best efforts. We know that he is preparing potentially for a ground

00:10 invasion to Rafa. If you could speak to Prime Minister Netanyahu today, what would be your

00:15 message?

00:16 Well, I am particularly worried with the deteriorating conditions and security for humanitarian aid

00:28 delivery in Gaza. There is a breakdown in public order. At the same time, we have restrictions

00:39 imposed by Israel that are not improved and limit humanitarian distribution. On the other

00:49 hand, the deconflicting mechanisms to protect humanitarian aid delivery in relation to military

00:58 operations are not effective. And so my sincere hope is that the negotiations for the release

01:09 of hostages and some form of cessation of hostilities to be successful, to avoid an

01:22 all-out offensive over Rafa, where the core of the humanitarian system is located, and

01:33 that would have devastating consequences.

01:37 Two more journalists were targeted this morning and a critical injured.

01:44 I am deeply troubled by the number of journalists that have been killed in this conflict. Freedom

01:59 of press is a fundamental condition for the people to be able to know what's really

02:11 happening everywhere in the world.

02:16 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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