A spillover of Palestinians from Gaza into Egypt ‘would be a disaster for the future of peace,’ says U.N. high commissioner
The U.N. aid chief warned yesterday of the possibility of a spillover of Palestinians amassed in Rafah into Egypt if Israel launches a military operation against the border town.
Around 1.5 million Palestinians are in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, along the border with Egypt. This is more than six times the city’s population before Oct. 7, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
“The possibility of a military operation in Rafah, with the possibility of the [border] crossing closing down, with the possibility of spillover … a sort of Egyptian nightmare … is one that is right before our eyes,” Martin Griffiths told diplomats at the United Nations in Geneva.
Griffiths added that the notion that the people of Gaza could evacuate to a safe place was an “illusion.”
“We must all hope that friends of Israel and those who care about Israel’s security give them good counsel at this moment,” Griffiths said.
99 journalists killed in 2023, 77 in war on Gaza, organization says
The majority of the 99 journalists and media workers killed in 2023 were killed in the war on Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Of the 77 journalists killed in the war, 72 were “Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza,” the organization said. Three were Lebanese and two Israeli.
“The conflict claimed the lives of more journalists in three months than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year,” CPJ said.
CPJ found that 78 of the deaths in 2023 were work-related. The organization is still investigating eight more deaths.
The organization expressed concerns that the Israeli military was deliberately targeting Palestinian journalists.
“Cases include that of Issam Abdallah, a Lebanese visual journalist for Reuters,” CPJ said. “Independent…
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