UN Secretary-General António Guterres and High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed grave outrage at the possible deployment of a large-scale military operation by Israel in Rafah and called for its immediate avoidance at all costs.
Guterres insisted on Sunday that a full-scale military operation in Rafah "would have catastrophic consequences, so it must be prevented."
Turk, for his part, expressed his disappointment at the rapid escalation of the situation in Gaza, noting that "Israeli forces are intensifying airstrikes" throughout the territory of the sector.
According to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Israeli army's latest evacuation orders affect nearly a million residents of Rafah. Since May 6, more than 278,000 Palestinians have already left the city.
Turk also emphasized his lack of understanding of how such evacuation orders, let alone a general offensive in an extremely densely populated area, could be reconciled with the requirements of international humanitarian law and the rulings of the UN International Court of Justice.
"A large-scale attack on Rafah should not take place," he said, calling on influential states to make all possible efforts to prevent it.
