Gaza Strip: Nearly 450,000 Fled Rafah Due to Israeli Assault

On Tuesday, the UN said that nearly 450,000 Palestinians fled the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah to escape the Israeli ground offensive that began nine days ago.

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"Empty streets in Rafah as families continue to flee in search of safety," the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East (Unrwa) said on its X account.

People face constant exhaustion, hunger and fear. Nowhere is safe. An immediate ceasefire is the only hope, he said.

On the same social network, Unrwa spokeswoman Louise Wateridge had earlier denounced the exodus of Palestinians.

"Families have moved as far west as possible, now reaching the coast and along the beach," she said.

Today I was woken up by the shelling of the navy, the interior of Rafah is now a ghost town. It is hard to believe that just a week ago there were more than a million refugees here, he stressed.

In an interview with US television station NBC yesterday, Wateridge criticised Israeli claims of creating safe zones to accommodate citizens leaving the town.

"I don't want to hear anyone tell me that there is a safe place in Gaza because there isn't. Where is that safety," said the official, who is in the enclave.

Unrwa Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini also questioned the military attacks and the exodus of civilians.

"The Israeli authorities continue to issue forced displacement orders (...) which is forcing people in Rafah to flee anywhere and everywhere," he said.

Israeli troops occupied the Rafah crossing nine days ago, which for the past seven months has been the only gateway to Gaza for food, medicine and fuel.

The army then cut the city in two as part of its offensive against Hamas, amid fierce international criticism for fear of a large-scale massacre among civilians.