Why the UN is outraged by Israel's action in Rafah

While Benjamin Netanyahu gave the green light for an offensive on Rafah, the UN warned of the Israeli order to evacuate the city in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Israel has launched an operation to evacuate the town of Rafah, considered the last Hamas stronghold in the Palestinian enclave. The Israeli army is preparing a major offensive on this town near the Egyptian border, home to nearly a million displaced civilians who survive in makeshift camps. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, judged, this Monday, May 6, the evacuation order given by Israel to the residents of the east of the city as “inhumane”.

"Gaza residents continue to be hit by bombs, disease and even famine. And today they have been told they must move again" as "Israeli military operations in Rafah intensify " he said in a statement. The High Commissioner found it "inconceivable to forcibly move hundreds of thousands of people from Rafah to areas that have already been razed and where there is little shelter and virtually no access to necessary humanitarian aid to their survival.

Worrying data on the situation of women and children in Gaza. UNICEF and the UN have warned about the living conditions, particularly of women crowded together in Rafah. UN experts have condemned “unacceptable” violence by the Israeli army. “Women are the target of such vicious, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks by Israel, which apparently spares no effort to destroy their lives and deprive them of their basic human rights,” the UN rapporteurs explain in a statement.

The massive destruction of homes in Gaza has led women to risk their lives. “Pregnant and breastfeeding women continue to be treated appallingly, with the direct bombardment of hospitals and deliberate denial of access to health care facilities by Israeli snipers, combined with a lack of beds and medical resources.” , say the experts. They say around 50,000 pregnant Palestinian women and 20,000 newborns face “unimaginable risks.” Experts report receiving reports of sexual assault and violence against women and girls, “particularly against those detained by Israeli forces.”