The UN high commissioner for refugees said on Friday that any escalation of military activities in the Gaza Strip will be “catastrophic” for people there.
Filippo Grandi told reporters in Japan, “(I) can tell you with certainty that any further escalation or even continuation of military activities will just be catastrophic for the people of Gaza.”
While emphasizing that the refugee agency UNHCR has no formal mandate in the Palestinian Territories or Israel, Grandi said that he “shares the extreme worry and anguish that has been expressed by many of my colleagues including the UN secretary general” about the conflict.
He also called the Hamas surprise attack in Israel on October 7 “appalling” and said that the outcomes of the clash spreading into Lebanon and elsewhere would be “incalculable.”
International aid piled up Friday near Gaza, with Palestinians in dire need of food and water.
According to Israeli officials, Hamas stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7 and killed at least 1,400 people, mainly civilians who were shot on the first day of the raid.
About 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in clashes before its army regained control of the area under attack, Israel says.
More than 3,785 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed across Gaza in persistent Israeli bombardments in retaliation for the invasions by Hamas, according to the latest toll from its health ministry in Gaza.
More than one million of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been forced to leave their homes and the humanitarian situation is worsening by the day, the United Nations said.
