Overcrowded Rafah has 1.3 million people: UNRWA
Jerusalem, Undefined – AFP
UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says that Rafah is overwhelmed by the influx of displaced Palestinians.
“The city is usually home to only 250,000 persons. And now, it’s more than 1.3 million,” said UNRW spokesperson Adnan Abu Hasna.
“We have recently noticed a major collapse in health conditions” and a “significant spread” of disease, he added.
Conditions for Gaza’s civilians are precarious, with the United Nations estimating 1.9 million people are displaced.
AFPTV footage showed entire families, seeking safety from the violence, arriving in Rafah in overloaded cars and on foot, pushing handcarts stacked with possessions.
“We fled Jabalia camp to Maan (in Khan Yunis) and now we are fleeing from Maan to Rafah,” said one woman who declined to give her name. “(We have) no water, no electricity and no food.”
Ahmad al-Sufi, head of the Rafah emergency committee said there was an urgent need for 50,000 tents to house the refugees.
At Al-Amal hospital in Khan Yunis, one of Gaza’s few medical facilities still operating, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said seven displaced people, including a five-day-old baby, were killed while sheltering in the compound.
Dozens more were killed in nearby strikes during three days of bombardment, the Red Crescent said, reporting renewed artillery shelling and drone fire in the area on Friday.
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