Save the Children International warned on Monday that Israel’s decision to forcibly displace Palestinians from the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip will have dire consequences for children.

The international organization said in a statement: “A looming ground assault on Rafah would force hundreds of thousands of people to flee and would impede aid efforts in Rafah.”

The organization explained, “Time has run out to protect children in Rafah, Gaza’s ‘last refuge’”.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said earlier Monday that “the (Israeli) orders to relocate Palestinians from the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, are inhumane.”

“Forcibly displacing hundreds of thousands from Rafah and resettling them in razed areas risk exposing them to further danger and misery,” he added.

Since the beginning of the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation army has been forcibly displacing Palestinians from the north of the Strip to the south, where the city of Rafah is located. Today, the city is considered the last refuge for the displaced in the Strip.

Since then, the Israeli occupation army has been waging a genocidal war against the Strip, with US and European support, leading to the martyrdom of 34,735 people and the injury of 78,108 others, in addition to the displacement of about 1.7 million people from the Strip, according to UN data. (ILKHA)