Hamas warns of a humanitarian catastrophe resulting from the closure of the Rafah crossing and calls on the international community to take action

Today, Saturday, Hamas movement warned of a humanitarian catastrophe and the worsening state of famine throughout the besieged Gaza Strip, as a result of the Israeli occupation army’s control of the Rafah crossing and its closure for the fifth day.

Hamas stressed in a statement via Telegram that controlling the crossing and closing it had disrupted the arrival of humanitarian and medical aid “to our Palestinian people in light of the continued aggression, in addition to stopping the exit of the wounded to receive treatment abroad.”

She explained that this "portends a humanitarian catastrophe and a worsening state of famine throughout the besieged Strip, for which the Zionist occupation, which is committed to the crime of genocide, starvation war, and ethnic cleansing, bears full responsibility."

It called on the international community, the United Nations and its institutions to take urgent action to stop this humanitarian catastrophe, in light of the “escalation of the criminal Zionist attack on Rafah.”

Hamas called for taking the necessary measures to force "the Zionist occupation to stop its aggression, withdraw from the crossing, reopen it, and facilitate the arrival of emergency relief and medical supplies to our besieged people."

Last Monday, the Israeli occupation army began a military operation in Rafah, took control of the Palestinian side of the city’s crossing, and closed it, ignoring the escalating international warnings, amid international silence and an American green light.

Although it claimed that the operation was “limited in scope,” the army called, on Saturday morning, for the immediate displacement of residents of new neighborhoods in the heart of the city, thus expanding its operations.