in Rafah, nearly a million and a half Palestinians are “deprived of everything” and “cornered” before an Israeli offensive

An assault on “incalculable regional consequences”. The UN Secretary General warned, in a message posted on Thursday February 8, that an Israeli offensive in Rafah “would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare.” The day before, Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered his troops to “prepare for an operation” land in this town in the south of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Prime Minister thus intends to dismantle the “Hamas’ last remaining bastions”.

Rafah, wedged between the sea and the border with Egypt, represents the last refuge for hundreds of thousands of civilians who have fled the war. Before the conflict, the city had 280,000 residents. According to estimates by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), it now hosts 1.4 million people, out of the 2.3 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip. “It’s six times more than before the war,” says Juliette Touma, UNRWA communications director.

“Everywhere you look in Rafah, there are displaced people. They are installed in makeshift tents made from plastic sheeting, in parking lots, in the streets, on every scrap of free land and even on the beach. “

Juliette Touma, UNRWA communications director

at franceinfo

Due to lack of space, families even found refuge in a former poultry farm, as photos taken by Gazan journalists show. The concentration of displaced people “has reached the stage where the roads are blocked by tents”notes Andrea De Domenico, head of the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories (Ocha). “The journey from our office to the house where our teams are housed, which used to take twelve minutes, can now take up to two and a half hours, just enough time to navigate through the dense crowds.”

The situation is all the more critical as “Rafah is one of the poorest areas” of the enclave and “lack of the necessary infrastructure to accommodate such a population density”according to Juliette Touma. In three months, the city produced “the equivalent of a year’s worth of waste”, declared the municipality to Ocha. This waste, if not removed, risks contaminating the little drinking water still available.

A population threatened by famine and epidemics

In Rafah, as in the rest of the Gaza Strip, civilians are “deprived of everything”, denounces Frédéric Joli, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The trickle of humanitarian aid trucks is not enough to meet the population’s water and food needs. In the middle of winter, Andrea De Domenico also notes a “lack of basic supplies like tents, mattresses and blankets”or even sanitary facilities.

These living conditions “deplorable” led to deaths that could have been avoided, according to Frédéric Joli. In recent weeks, the Red Cross has seen the number of cases of diarrheal illnesses increase, both among infants and adults. “Chronic pathologies are no longer treated because the health system has almost collapsed”continues the ICRC spokesperson, who warns of the risk of epidemics linked to promiscuity and lack of hygiene.

The hospitals that are still functioning do not have the capacity, nor the medical equipment, to respond to the constant influx of injured people. In the south of the Gaza Strip, the ICRC surgical team “only performs amputations”both to treat people affected by the bombings and patients “whose wounds have become infected” lack of medication. “Not to mention the stress and constant terror” caused by the strikes and multiple forced moves, notes Frédéric Joli.

“Where will these displaced people go?”

Most Gazans in Rafah “have already moved several timesdepending on Israeli strikes”, underlines the ICRC spokesperson. This is the case of Noor Swirki, a Palestinian journalist who previously lived in the center of the Gaza Strip. With her family, she has already been forced to flee twice to the south of the territory. “A few weeks ago, we thought we were safe in Khan Younès, before being forced to [partir] to Rafah to live in a tent”she tells franceinfo.

But the Egyptian border town was not spared from the bombings. The Israeli army intensified its airstrikes on Rafah on Friday, killing several people. A large-scale assault would have dramatic consequences, while theThe conflict has already been nearly 28 000 dead in the enclave, the Hamas Ministry of Health said on Friday. “The population density in Rafah makes it almost impossible to protect civilians in the event of a ground offensive”, explains Andrea De Domenico, from Ocha. Gazans “are literally backed against the wall which marks the border with Egypt”according to Frédéric Joli.

“One of my colleagues described the situation in Rafah as a ‘pressure cooker of despair’. If it ‘explodes’ it could have catastrophic consequences, with the risk of real carnage in southern Gaza and potentially a overflow into Egypt.”

Andrea De Domenico, director of Ocha

at franceinfo

Faced with the IDF’s advance towards the south of the Gaza Strip, some displaced people tried to return where they came from. “When Israeli troops withdrew from certain areas of Deir al-Balah [dans le centre]people ventured there to see if it was safe to return with their families”, relates Andrea De Domenico. But the return to the north “is perilous, particularly because of unexploded ordnance”.

In the absence of a safe route out of Rafah, “everyone is afraid that the ground operation will expand” to the city, confides a Palestinian Red Crescent official cited by the Guardian. Some Gazans interviewed by the British daily hope that the Jewish state will order the evacuation of civilians before launching the assault. “Israel (…) will perhaps give us specific areas to go to”says a displaced person.

Others don’t believe it. “If there was a way to go to another, safer area (…) I would go. But it’s even more dangerous than here”says a Palestinian Guardian. The humanitarians contacted by franceinfo share this observation. “If there is an offensive in Rafah, where will these displaced people go? There is no longer any safe place in the Gaza Strip”regrets Juliette Touma, from UNRWA.

Humanitarians “on the brink of collapse”

Like her, Andrea De Domenico is worried “of the future of the families who sought refuge in Rafah”, as well as “for the safety of the humanitarians who assist them”. For weeks now, NGOs and UN agencies have been struggling to provide the necessary aid to the population affected by the conflict. “We need the safety of our teams to be guaranteed”insists Frédéric Joli, who recalls that several humanitarian workers have been killed since the start of the conflict. “Our teams are miraculously able to continue working with few resources and risking their lives, but this will not be able to last much longer. he laments. We are on the verge of collapse.”

UNRWA, the main organization intervening in the Gaza Strip, could even be forced to “stop operations by the end of February or beginning of March”. The UN agency, under investigation after 12 of its employees were accused of being involved in Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, has seen its funding suspended by several donor countries.

“Any increase in fighting in Rafah means more humanitarian needs, and therefore more work for UNRWA. Without funding, we will be unable to cope.”

Juliette Touma, UNRWA communications director

at franceinfo

After “months to warn about the catastrophe in the Gaza Strip”Frédéric Joli begins to “miss superlatives to describe the seriousness of the situation. “Rafah, it’s the worst of the worst”, sighs the ICRC spokesperson. “I don’t have a crystal ball, but if Israel launches an offensive there, every imaginable risk will be on the table. We will touch the unspeakable.”