In response to the Hamas assault, Israel vowed to destroy the group. (File)

Geneva, Switzerland:

An exodus of Palestinians from Gaza into different nations within the area could be “catastrophic”, the United Nations refugee chief Filippo Grandi instructed AFP in an interview Wednesday, stressing the necessity for a ceasefire.

“I hope that there is not going to be a regional exodus of Palestinians,” he stated.

“One ought to always remember that two-thirds of the inhabitants of Gaza are already refugees from the unique battle,” he stated, referring to Israel’s creation 75 years in the past which gave rise to the exodus or compelled displacement of 760,000 Palestinians.

That occasion is called the Nakba, Arabic for “the disaster”.

A recent exodus, Grandi warned, “could be an extra burden on the refugee inhabitants, on the Palestinian inhabitants and on the area”. 

His feedback got here as Israeli forces battled Hamas terrorists in Gaza’s primary southern metropolis Khan Yunis Wednesday, in a few of the most intense combating of the practically two-month warfare sparked by the October 7 assaults.

These assaults killed 1,200 folks, principally civilians, in line with Israeli authorities, and round 240 folks taken hostage. 

In response to the Hamas assault, Israel vowed to destroy the group, and has carried out a relentless bombardment and a floor offensive in Gaza that has killed greater than 16,200 folks, most of them girls and youngsters, in line with Gaza’s Hamas-run authorities.

Israeli troops, tanks, armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers have rolled into Khan Yunis, Gaza’s second-largest metropolis, forcing already displaced civilians to pack up and flee once more, witnesses instructed AFP.

The main focus of the battle has shifted into the besieged Palestinian territory’s south following fierce combating and bombardment that diminished a lot of the north to rubble and compelled an estimated 1.9 million folks to flee. 

With the borders closed, barely anybody has made it out of Gaza because the warfare started. 

And since a week-long truce ended final week, solely round 100 support vehicles have been capable of enter Gaza, which Grandi warned was “vastly inadequate”.

“It is rather, crucial to handle this to stop an exodus that may be actually catastrophic,” he stated. 

“The precedence is to return to a pause… hopefully adopted by a humanitarian ceasefire, (an) much more steady cessation of hostilities,” he stated.

“The Palestinian individuals are in the mean time the victims of this navy motion, he stated, including that with greater than 16,000 already lifeless, this “has to finish as quickly as potential”.

“That is the end result that we must always all be engaged on.”

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