Displaced Palestinians crowded into Rafah in southern Gaza are struggling to secure basic needs as aid agencies and several world leaders have warned that an imminent Israeli offensive on the city would have disastrous consequences.
More than 1.5 million people, most of whom were displaced from other areas of Gaza, are taking shelter in Rafah, where food and other essential supplies are in short supply amid severe Israeli restrictions on the transportation of food, fuel, water and humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Despite mounting external pressure to stop the attack on Rafah, Israel says it will press ahead with a ground offensive in the city near the border with Egypt to confront battalions of fighters from Hamas, the Palestinian group that rules Gaza.
The United Nations special rapporteur for Palestine harshly criticized the planned Israeli ground offensive against the city.
“Rafah is the last line of Palestinian existence in Gaza, amid the relentless anguish faced by people trapped there,” said Francesa Albanese.
Jagan Chapagain, secretary general and executive director of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), warned that the health care situation in Gaza is “beyond critical” and that the gap between needs and the support available is expanding.
“Gaza's civilian population has suffered enough and healthcare is one of the last remaining rays of hope,” Chapagain wrote in X, warning that many vulnerable people lack essential medical services.
Israel has repeatedly carried out attacks on hospitals and medical complexes in Gaza since it launched its war against the besieged coastal enclave on October 7, paralyzing health services for Palestinians living there.
According to the latest assessments by the World Health Organization (WHO), only 11 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are partially functioning: five in the north and six in the south.
On Sunday, the WHO chief said Nasser Hospital, the main hospital in southern Gaza, was “no longer functioning” after weeks of deadly Israeli siege and bombing.
To compensate for the loss of essential health services, Palestinian workers set up a mobile hospital in Rafah on Sunday.
