United Nations: There must be an immediate ceasefire on the people of Gaza

Rafah, which it described as a “pressure cooker of despair,” which now houses “more than half of

Sat 03 Feb 2024 | 10:56 AM

By Amir Haggag

The United Nations warned of deteriorating conditions in the southern Gaza Strip, especially in Rafah, which it described as a “pressure cooker of despair,” which now houses “more than half of the Strip’s population.” The World Health Organization also expressed its concern about the health situation and the risk of “famine” in the Strip.

The United Nations expressed its fears about the deteriorating situation in southern Gaza, saying that the increase in the number of people seeking safety in Rafah has made the city resemble a "pressure cooker of despair."

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expressed deep concern about the escalation of hostilities in Khan Yunis, which has led to an increase in the number of people heading south to Rafah in recent days.

OCHA spokesman in Geneva, Jens Laerke, said, "Most of them live in temporary buildings, tents, or in the open." He described Rafah as "a pressure cooker of despair and we fear what will come next."

For his part, the representative of the World Health Organization in the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Peppercorn, confirmed that Rafah was a city inhabited by about 200,000 people, but the region now houses more than half of Gaza’s population, which numbers more than two million people.