DUBAI, February 9. /TASS/. The advance of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip may lead to the death of more than a million Palestinians and the breakdown of humanitarian deliveries, the Saudi Ash-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper said.

According to the newspaper, Israel has warned of continuing its advance toward Rafah in the south of the enclave, which is currently housing around 1.5 million people who escaped from Israeli bombardments and hope to flee to Egypt. Employees of humanitarian missions and medics are doing their utmost to prevent potential infections in the area, providing at the bare minimum basic first-aid.

Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Jan Egeland has warned about irreversible consequences if Israel continues its ground operation in the Gaza Strip and called for steps to prevent a war in the giant refugee camp, which may reduce to zero all humanitarian efforts in the region.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to Israeli authorities’ aggressive actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes are also reported in the West Bank. According to the latest data, some 27,900 people have been killed in Gaza.