“A military assault on Rafah would be an intolerable escalation, killing more civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands more to flee,” Guterres told reporters at the organization’s New York Headquarters, urging Israeli authorities to refrain from carrying out an offensive in the southern part of the territory.

Such an offensive “would have a devastating impact on the people of Gaza and serious repercussions for the occupied West Bank and the wider region,” the UN chief warned.

“All members of the Security Council and many other States have made clear their opposition to such an operation. I appeal to all those with influence on Israel to do everything possible to prevent it,” he stressed.

The UN chief’s warning comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that the Israeli military would enter the city of Rafah, which borders Egypt and is seen by Tel Aviv as the last stronghold of the Palestinian Islamist group, “with or without” a truce with Hamas.

“The idea that we will stop the war before we achieve all our goals is out of the question. We will enter Rafah and eliminate Hamas battalions, with or without an agreement [for a truce], in order to achieve a complete victory,” Netanyahu told the families of hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the conflict, over six months ago, in Jerusalem earlier today.

The city of Rafah has become a refuge for some 1.5 million Palestinians who fled Israeli bombardment in the north of the territory after the war began on 7 October 2023, triggered by a deadly Hamas attack on Israeli soil.

“They have very little to eat, almost no access to medical care, little shelter and nowhere safe to go. In northern Gaza, the most vulnerable – from sick children to people with disabilities – are already dying from starvation and disease. We must do everything possible to prevent a man-made and entirely avoidable famine,” Guterres stated.

The UN chief also referred to the ongoing talks between Israel and Hamas for a truce in the Gaza Strip, warning that without an agreement, the war could escalate exponentially.

“For the sake of the people of Gaza, for the sake of the hostages and their families in Israel, and for the sake of the region and the world, I appeal to the Government of Israel and the leaders of Hamas to reach an agreement now,” he said.

Guterres also said he was “deeply concerned” about the discovery of mass graves in the two main hospitals in the Gaza Strip, and called for an independent investigation.

“It is imperative that independent international investigators be given immediate access to the sites to determine the precise circumstances in which the Palestinians lost their lives and were buried or reburied,” he stated.

The UN chief also considered it essential that “freedom of expression and freedom of assembly” be guaranteed in the pro-Palestinian campus protests that have spread across the United States in the past two weeks.

“I believe it is essential in all circumstances to guarantee freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly, and at the same time, it is obvious that incitement to hatred is not acceptable,” Guterres said.

In this regard, he argued that, based on his experience, universities themselves should apply the “necessary wisdom” to “manage adequately” the situation.

Dozens of students at New York’s Columbia University occupied Hamilton Hall, one of the most important buildings in the complex, early today, hours after the suspensions of students involved in protests against the Israeli offensive were announced.

The protests at Columbia join those that hundreds of students from dozens of other universities in the United States have been holding for days to protest against the war in the Gaza Strip.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas has already resulted in more than 34,000 deaths, mostly civilians, in the Gaza Strip, according to the authorities of the small Palestinian enclave, controlled by the Islamist group since 2007.

The Israeli offensive is a retaliation for the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement, which on 7 October killed more than 1,100 people in Israel and took some 250 hostages.

The Israeli retaliation is causing a serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with more than 1.1 million people in a “catastrophic hunger situation” that is already claiming lives – “the highest number ever recorded” by the UN in food security studies worldwide.

Read Also: Director of the International Energy Agency to visit Iran on 6 and 7 May (Portuguese version)