Full-scale Israeli operation in Rafah would be ‘catastrophic’, says UN chief, amid fresh Gaza clashes

Fierce clashes are taking place across the Gaza Strip, with Israeli troops engaging militants in Rafah in the south, in the Gaza city neighbourhood of Zeitoun and in Jabalya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun in the north.

An estimated 300,000 residents have now fled Rafah following Israeli warnings for people to leave, including from neighbourhoods in central Rafah, in advance of an expansion of the military operation in the city along the Egyptian border, where more than a million Gazans had fled to avoid the war.

“The latest evacuation orders affect close to a million people in Rafah. So where should they go now? There is no safe place in Gaza” Volker Turk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement on Sunday. “These exhausted, famished people, many of whom have been displaced many times already, have no good options.”

He said a full-scale offensive could have a “catastrophic impact ... including the possibility of further atrocity crimes.”

Israel pushes deeper into Gaza’s north and south

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Angry with the Rafah operation and the Israeli military seizing control of the Rafah crossing‚ Egypt announced on Sunday it would back South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

Troops also returned to Zeitoun for the third time and Jabalya for the second time, underscoring the fact that Hamas is quickly reasserting its military presence in areas after Israel troops withdraw.

According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 253 hostages seized in the surprise Hamas attack on October 7th. 132 hostages, dead and alive, remain in Hamas captivity.

United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, called for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and an immediate surge in humanitarian aid,” but warned: “It will be a long road back from the devastation and trauma of this war.”

Israeli media reported that Israel’s top general, Lieut Gen Herzi Halevi, criticised prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu during security consultations over the weekend for failing to develop and announce a so-called “day after” strategy for who will rule Gaza after the war.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken said in a CBS interview Sunday that Washington still hasn’t seen a plan from Israel that would prevent Hamas from returning to areas where Israel has previously operated and, after leaving, a vacuum was created.

Mr Blinken added that more civilians have been killed in Gaza than terrorists, and that there’s a gap between Israel’s intentions and results.

Despite significant differences between the positions of Israel and Hamas over a ceasefire and hostage release deal, efforts continue to arrange another round of talks in Doha. Israel has conveyed to Egyptian and Qatari mediators its reservations about the proposal approved by Hamas and is waiting for a revised offer from the organisation.

Sirens sounded throughout Israel on Sunday night as the country observed the start of Remembrance Day for its fallen soldiers. Since October 7th, 620 new names have been added to the list but this year the day that traditionally unites the country finds a nation more bitterly divided than ever.

Many bereaved relatives said they would avoid visiting military cemeteries this year where government ministers planned to attend memorial services.