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Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466
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Copyright © 2024 CGTN. 京ICP备20000184号
Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466
Smoke billows over Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, March 17, 2024. /CFP
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that preventing Israeli forces from invading Gaza's southern city of Rafah is an urgent priority.
"The urgent matter and priority for us is to prevent Israeli forces from invading Rafah, to which more than 1.5 million Palestinians have been displaced, which will cause a humanitarian catastrophe," said Abbas during his meeting with Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira in the West Bank city of Ramallah, according to WAFA news agency.
Abbas also stressed the importance of accelerating the entry of humanitarian, relief and medical aid into the Gaza Strip, calling for a greater international effort to oblige Israel to open all crossings leading to Gaza to bring in aid and begin reconstruction.
His remarks came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved Friday a plan for the Israel Defense Forces to launch an operation in Rafah.
Read more: Gaza talks continue, Israel unwavering on ground offensive
A view of damage to homes in Hamad Town by Israeli air strikes in Khan Younis, Gaza, March 17, 2024. /CFP
23 million tonnes of rubble in Gaza Strip
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) estimated on Sunday that the ongoing conflict has reduced infrastructure in Gaza to around 23 million tonnes of rubble.
UNRWA said in a statement that homes, schools, clinics and many other civilian infrastructures in Gaza have been heavily affected by the conflict, resulting in "the formation of approximately 23 million tonnes of rubble."
It noted that the work to remove the rubble and unexploded ordnance will take years.
According to the UN agency's evaluation, over 2 million people living in Gaza have had their lives destroyed.
Since the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict broke out on October 7, 2023, the death toll from Israeli strikes on Gaza has risen to 31,645, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Workers check a humanitarian aid truck at the Kerem Shalom Crossing before it enters into the Gaza Strip in Keres Shalom, Israel, March 14, 2024. /CFP
First flour distribution in months starts
Relief and food aid, mainly flour, reached Palestinian families in the northern Gaza Strip for the first time in about four months, Palestinian media reported on Sunday.
Local sources and eyewitnesses told Xinhua that 12 trucks loaded with relief and food aid entered Gaza City and reached the cities and towns of Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, where the cargoes were unloaded in UNRWA warehouses.
The trucks, which carried flour, canned goods and other food items, were secured by armed people affiliated with Hamas in cooperation with Palestinian clans, according to the Hamas-linked Home Front media outlet.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates welcomed in a statement all efforts to deliver aid to residents in the northern Gaza Strip, noting the aid "is not sufficient compared to the enormous humanitarian needs of Palestinian civilians in that area."
It called for the necessity of opening all crossings and ensuring the continued flow of aid by land, sea and air.
The ministry emphasized the importance of the UN Security Council "exercising sufficient courage to make a binding UN decision to immediately stop the ceasefire, and to support the efforts of mediators to reach an immediate agreement to release hostages and prisoners."
(With input from agencies)