The UN Palestinian aid agency said on Sunday that all 36 shelters in the southern Gaza city of Rafah are “empty” due to Israel’s ongoing military operation.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) wrote on the social platform
It said 1.7 million of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents are now displaced in the central city of Khan Yunis and surrounding areas.
“The humanitarian space continues to shrink,” the agency added.
Aid agencies have repeatedly warned that there is no safe place in the Gaza Strip amid ongoing Israeli operations in the area, which began in the wake of the October 7 attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The latest advance by Israeli forces in Rafah has drawn huge international criticism, with aid agencies estimating that around 1 million civilians had sought refuge in the southern city, on the border with Egypt.
The UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) last week ordered Israel to immediately cease operations in Rafah, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has so far failed to comply with the ruling.
Israel says Rafah is the last stronghold of Hamas fighters in Gaza, with some of the remaining Israeli hostages from the October 7 attacks believed to be in the network of tunnels under the city.
