GENOCIDE, ISRAEL, MIDDLE EAST, PALESTINE

UN Relief Chief Martin Griffiths: Safe Zones in Gaza are an ‘Illusion’

Posted by Internationalist 360° on

Al Mayadeen
Piles of sacks are stacked on the ground in an open area. People are standing around it - there is a cart nearby.Today in Rafah, despite the chaos, continued bombardment, the fear and the ongoing displacement, UNRWA teams are still working and delivering critical food supplies. UNRWA

UN Relief Chief Martin Griffiths has addressed “Israel’s” invasion of Rafah and its call for the evacuation of Palestinians, saying there exists zero safe zones in Gaza.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said safe zones in Gaza are an ‘illusion’, as “Israel” calls for the evacuation of Palestinian refugees in Rafah ahead of its invasion.

“There is not anywhere safe for people to go in Gaza, it is an illusion to think there is some wonderful part of Gaza where you can go and be safe from the war because the displacement continues … as the war spreads.”

On Tuesday, Griffiths also addressed the Rafah invasion, warning that it poses a grave risk of leading to a “slaughter in Gaza” and jeopardizing a “fragile humanitarian operation at death’s door.”

Griffiths reiterated that over 1 million people, constituting more than half of Gaza’s population, are concentrated in Rafah, facing imminent death with severe shortages of food, limited access to medical assistance, and a lack of safe shelter.

The entire Gaza population, including those in Rafah, is enduring an unprecedented assault marked by its intensity, brutality, and extensive reach, as per Griffiths.

Back in January, a field source informed Al Mayadeen that massive explosions, craters, and intense ground shocks in Gaza City were the outcome of the Israeli military’s deliberate demolition of numerous residential buildings, particularly in the southern part of the city.

The Israeli invading forces are conducting operations in a linear fashion from west to east, with the explosions coordinated alongside airstrikes from fighter jets and naval bombardments.

Nowhere is safe

Almost two months ago, analyses and satellite images of Gaza showed that “nearly 70% of Gaza’s 439,000 homes and about half of its buildings have been damaged or destroyed.”

Reports emphasized that “the bombing has damaged Byzantine churches and ancient mosques, factories and apartment buildings, shopping malls and luxury hotels, theaters, and schools,” adding that “much of the water, electrical, communications and healthcare infrastructure that made Gaza function is beyond repair.”

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Secretary General Christopher Lockyer said that the Gazan infrastructure being in shambles renders the delivery of humanitarian and medical aid impossible. Moreover, Altaf Musani, the World Health Organization Director of Health Emergencies Interventions revealed that a total of 827 registered attacks have targeted medical facilities in Gaza, completely destroying the health system.

Statement by Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

The scenario we have long dreaded is unraveling at alarming speed.

More than half of Gaza’s population – well over 1 million people – are crammed in Rafah, staring death in the face: They have little to eat, hardly any access to medical care, nowhere to sleep, nowhere safe to go.

They, like the entire population of Gaza, are the victims of an assault that is unparalleled in its intensity, brutality and scope.

More than 28,000 people – mostly women and children – have been killed across Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health.

For more than four months, humanitarian workers have been doing the near-impossible to assist people in need, despite the risks they themselves were facing and the traumas they were enduring.

But no amount of dedication and goodwill is enough to keep millions of people alive, fed and protected – while the bombs are falling and the aid is choked off.

Add to this the widespread despair, the breakdown of law and order, and the defunding of UNRWA.

The consequences are humanitarian workers who are shot at, held at gunpoint, attacked and killed.

I have said for weeks now that our humanitarian response is in tatters.

Today, I’m sounding the alarm once again: Military operations in Rafah could lead to a slaughter in Gaza. They could also leave an already fragile humanitarian operation at death’s door.

We lack the safety guarantees, the aid supplies and the staff capacity to keep this operation afloat.

The international community has been warning against the dangerous consequences of any ground invasion in Rafah. The Government of Israel cannot continue to ignore these calls.

History will not be kind.

This war must end.

Informal comments to the media by the Permanent Representatives of the Arab Group, briefs reporters on the Israeli military escalation in Rafah (Gaza) – Security Council Media Stakeout.

Permanent Representatives of the Arab Group reiterated their position on the Israeli military escalation in Rafah, calling the Security Council to shoulder responsibility to prevent the deterioration of the situation.

On behalf of the Arab Group, Tunisian Ambassador Tarek Ladeb told reporters today (14 Feb) in New York, “We cannot accept that the Security Council and the international community keep ignore this very dangerous situation.”

Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour said that the Arab Group has been engaging with members of the Security Council, and commended Algeria for drafting a resolution that is planned to be put in blue.

Ambassador Mansour said, “From our perspective, we believe that the Security Council should shoulder its responsibility and act immediately and stop it in the fighting, saving Rafah from this looming catastrophe.”

He urged the Security Council to act “as quickly as possible within its mandate and its power.”

Ambassador Mansour also reiterated that the Group believes that the draft resolution gained massive support.

“Our effort is to do everything possible to stop Israel from committing this crime of depopulating the Gaza Strip and stopping the war, immediately,” the Palestinian Ambassador reiterated.

He concluded, “The guarantee to do that is to have a resolution calling for a ceasefire, and we hope that the Security Council would elevate itself to that responsibility.”

South Africa Makes ‘Urgent Request’ to ICJ as Israel Prepares to Enter Rafah