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A spillover of Palestinians from Gaza into Egypt ‘would be a disaster for the future of peace,’ says U.N. high commissioner
The U.N. aid chief warned yesterday of the possibility of a spillover of Palestinians amassed in Rafah into Egypt if Israel launches a military operation against the border town.
Around 1.5 million Palestinians are in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, along the border with Egypt. This is more than six times the city’s population before Oct. 7, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
“The possibility of a military operation in Rafah, with the possibility of the [border] crossing closing down, with the possibility of spillover … a sort of Egyptian nightmare … is one that is right before our eyes,” Martin Griffiths told diplomats at the United Nations in Geneva.
Griffiths added that the notion that the people of Gaza could evacuate to a safe place was an “illusion.”
“We must all hope that friends of Israel and those who care about Israel’s security give them good counsel at this moment,” Griffiths said.
99 journalists killed in 2023, 77 in war on Gaza, organization says
The majority of the 99 journalists and media workers killed in 2023 were killed in the war on Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Of the 77 journalists killed in the war, 72 were “Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza,” the organization said. Three were Lebanese and two Israeli.
“The conflict claimed the lives of more journalists in three months than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year,” CPJ said.
CPJ found that 78 of the deaths in 2023 were work-related. The organization is still investigating eight more deaths.
The organization expressed concerns that the Israeli military was deliberately targeting Palestinian journalists.
“Cases include that of Issam Abdallah, a Lebanese visual journalist for Reuters,” CPJ said. “Independent investigations by international news organizations and rights groups found evidence indicating that Israeli forces targeted a group of reporters — killing Abdallah and injuring six others — in southern Lebanon on October 13.”
The journalists were all wearing press insignia and covering crossfire between the IDF and Hezbollah militants “from a location where no fighting was taking place when they were hit by two Israeli shells,” CPJ said.
“CPJ, along with other organizations, is now investigating whether a dozen other journalists — and, in some cases, members of their families — killed in the Israel-Gaza war also were targeted by the Israeli military,” the organization said.
International Court of Justice rejects South Africa’s request for urgent measures to safeguard Rafah
The International Court of Justice rejected South Africa’s request for an urgent measure to safeguard Rafah, according to a statement from the court.
The ICJ said it considered South Africa’s letter asking for additional measures in Rafah dated Feb. 12.
“This perilous situation demands immediate and effective implementation of the provisional measures indicated by the Court in its Order of 26 January 2024, which are applicable throughout the Gaza Strip, including in Rafah, and does not demand the indication of additional provisional measures,” the court said.
The ICJ did note that the most recent developments in Gaza, specifically the Israeli operation in Rafah, “would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences.”
After South Africa took Israel to the ICJ, accusing it of committing genocide in Gaza, the ICJ ruled last month that Israel should take all possible measures to prevent acts of genocide in the enclave.
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