Anjali Sharma

GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 3rd Feb. UN aid coordination office IN New York OCHA on Friday said that thousands of Gazans fleeing intense hostilities in Khan Younis towards the massively overcrowded southern city of Rafah which UN humanitarians described as a “pressure cooker of despair” .

 OCHA warned that “In recent days, thousands of Palestinians have been fleeing to the south to Rafah, which is already hosting over half of Gaza’s population of some 2.3 million people,” said OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke. 

It said 100,000 dead, injured or missing

Mr. Laerke told journalists that most of the new arrivals were “living in makeshift structures, tents, or out in the open. Rafah is now a pressure cooker of despair and we fear for what happens next.”

He voiced his deep concerns that nowhere in Gaza is safe amid reports of Israeli shelling on the periphery of Rafah on Friday.

WHO stated that 100,000 people in Gaza “are dead, injured, or missing and presumed dead” as a result of bombing raids and fighting on the ground between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants.

It added that 60% of the 27,019 fatalities reported by the enclave’s health authorities have been women and children,

UNWRA reported over 66,000 now injured and requiring medical care that remains difficult to access. 

WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Dr. Rick Peeperkorn highlighted the “extremely challenging” task of replenishing hospitals and medical centres throughout the wartorn enclave, explained that of 15 planned missions to the north in January, three had been carried out, four had been impeded by impassable routes, one postponed and eight were denied.

Dr Peeperkorn added that of the 11 planned missions to the south last month, four had gone ahead, two were postponed, two were impeded either because checkpoints opened late or owing to excessive delays. Authorisations were denied for three missions.

“Lack of safety guarantees and humanitarian corridors in Gaza are making it increasingly challenging to safely and rapidly carry out humanitarian operations,he said.

He added “Lack of sustained access to hospitals could dismantle the health system.”

UNICEF reported that at least 17,000 children in Gaza are unaccompanied or separated. 

“Each one, a heartbreaking story of loss and grief,” said Jonathan Crickx UNICEF Chief of Communication in the State of Palestine.

He described meeting youngsters in Gaza earlier this week. Among them was 11-year-old Razan who lost almost all her family during a bombing raid in the first weeks of the war.

“Her mother, father, brother, and two sisters were killed,” Mr. Crickx continued.

“Razan’s leg was also injured and had to be amputated. Following the surgery, her wound got infected. Razan is now being taken care of by her aunt and uncle, all of whom have been displaced to Rafah.”

He stressed that because of the lack of food, water and shelter, extended families are struggling to look after themselves, let alone orphaned or unaccompanied children.

“I met these children in Rafah. We fear that the situation of children who have lost their parents is much worse in the north and the centre of the Gaza Strip,” he concluded.