WHO advocates caution As Israel prepares for a military offensive in Rafah, there will be more illness breakouts, rising starvation, and more fatalities.
In the event that Israel proceeds with its planned military action in Rafah, the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a grim warning.
The warning was posted by the organization on its X page on Saturday. It predicted that the impending assault on Rafah, the southern border city, would result in "a bloodbath.
More than 1.2 million people, many of whom were unable to find other places to shelter, were reportedly present in the area, according to WHO.
A new wave of relocation would worsen the situation by increasing overcrowding and restricting access to food, water, health care, and sanitation facilities, which would increase the risk of disease outbreaks, worsen hunger, and result in more deaths,” the report stated.
Only 33% of Gaza's 36 hospitals and 30% of its primary health care facilities, according to the WHO, were operating in some form due to frequent bombings and a lack of essential medical supplies, fuel, and personnel.
WHO demanded the immediate and permanent cessation of hostilities as well as the removal of all barriers to the necessary scale-up of the delivery of critical humanitarian aid into and throughout Gaza.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, is adamant about going on the attack in Rafah to destroy Hamas's last strongholds.