WHO warns of Rafah "bloodbath" as ahead of looming Israeli invasion
Geneva, Switzerland - An Israeli military incursion into Gaza's southern city of Rafah could lead to a "bloodbath", the World Health Organization warned Friday, announcing contingency plans.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to attack Rafah, where much of Gaza's population has sought refuge from nearly seven months of war.
Adding his voice to a growing chorus, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned of possible dire implications for the 1.2 million people sheltering in Rafah.
"WHO is deeply concerned that a full-scale military operation in Rafah, Gaza, could lead to a bloodbath, and further weaken an already broken health system," Tedros said on X.
In a statement, the WHO announced contingency efforts, but warned "the broken health system would not be able to cope with a surge in casualties and deaths that a Rafah incursion would cause".
"This contingency plan is Band-Aids," Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative in the Palestinian territories, told reporters in Geneva. "It will absolutely not prevent the expected substantial additional mortality and morbidity caused by a military operation."
Gaza's health care facilities in ruin
According to the WHO, most of the besieged territory's health facilities have been damaged or destroyed amid heavy and targeted Israeli bombardment.
Only 12 of Gaza's 36 hospitals and 22 of its 88 primary health facilities are "partially functional", the UN health agency said.
"As part of contingency efforts, WHO and partners are urgently working to restore and resuscitate health services," the statement said.
It added that Rafah's three currently operational hospitals would become unreachable "when hostilities intensify in their vicinity".
Instead, the WHO is working to restore south Gaza's largest hospital, the Nasser Medical Complex in nearby Khan Yunis, and establish additional medical sites.
"The ailing health system will not be able to withstand the potential scale of devastation that the incursion will cause," Peeperkorn said.
A military operation in Rafah could spark a new wave of displacement, leading to more overcrowding, limited access to food, water and sanitation and more outbreaks of disease, he added.
In its statement, the WHO called "for an immediate and lasting ceasefire and the removal of the obstacles to the delivery of urgent humanitarian assistance into and across Gaza, at the scale that is required."
Deafening calls for Israel to abandon Rafah offensive
Jens Laerke, spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, said that a military operation in Rafah "could lead to a slaughter".
"For agencies already struggling to provide humanitarian aid in Gaza, a ground invasion would strike a disastrous blow," he told reporters.
"Any ground operation would mean more suffering and death."
Scores of US House Democrats have urged President Joe Biden to pressure Israel into abandoning its plans to launch an all-out assault on the city as the Palestinian toll in Gaza nears 35,000 and warnings of a genocide grow louder.
Cover photo: AFP