RAFAH, (PIC)
The Euro-Med Monitor for Human Rights has warned of the repercussions of the Israeli occupation army’s issuance of evacuation orders for the displaced in Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip. This move appears to be a prelude to the start of a military operation that the Monitor believes represents an announcement of the execution of over 1.2 million Palestinians in the city and an escalation of the crime of genocide.
In a statement released on Monday, the Euro-Med Monitor stated that the Israeli army has warned civilians to evacuate the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah towards the Mawasi area west of the neighboring city of Khan Yunis, without any clarification on how civilians will be safely transported to the mentioned area or how they will be organized upon arrival.
The areas affected by the evacuation orders include the Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital, the central hospital in Rafah, as well as the Rafah border crossings and the commercial crossing at Karm Abu Salem. It should be noted that the entry of aid trucks through these crossings has been suspended since Sunday afternoon, according to the statement.
The Euro-Med Monitor pointed out that the new Israeli evacuation orders contain a number of serious errors, including contradictory information and the incorrect naming of areas, which do not provide any safe haven for civilians.
It warned that any Israeli ground military operation in Rafah poses a grave danger of committing horrific massacres and the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of civilians, especially children and women, and halting life-saving humanitarian relief operations throughout the Gaza Strip.
It also warned that the imminent invasion of Rafah foreshadows a large-scale displacement and raises serious concerns about the scenario of forced displacement and expulsion from the Strip.
The Euro-Med Monitor noted that Rafah is a center for humanitarian relief operations and the entry point for life-saving supplies, where dozens of relief organizations store supplies provided to civilians. This indicates an escalation of the policy of starvation against the people of the Strip and exacerbates the spread of diseases resulting from the military operation.
It stated that the imminent Israeli ground attack on Rafah may represent the bloodiest escalation against Palestinian civilians, leading to a larger wave of displacement, further overcrowding, blocking access to basic food needs and water, and the potential complete collapse of the already semi-destroyed health system.
The international community is called upon to fulfill its international legal obligations to stop the genocide being committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip and to activate real pressure tools to compel it to stop its military attack, the Monitor concluded.
