Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians without shelter in Rafah: UN

GAZA - The United Nations said Saturday that tens of thousands of Palestinians flocking into Rafah are facing overcrowding and in need of shelters.

In a press statement sent to Xinhua, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that since Dec 3, tens of thousands of internally displaced have arrived in Rafah, the southern tip of the Gaza Strip. Most of them came from the neighboring Khan Younis city, following evacuation orders issued by Israeli forces and the continued bombing and fighting.

Those newly displaced people face severe overcrowding in Rafah, with no empty space for shelter, not even in the streets or other open areas.

"Thousands of displaced people set up temporary structures and tents in a Qatari Field hospital under construction and the Al-Quds Open University campus in Rafah," the agency added.

For many Palestinians, this is the second or third displacement they have experienced since the start of Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip on Oct 7.

According to the UN, it is estimated that about 1.9 million people in Gaza, or approximately 85 percent of the population, are internally displaced.

Nearly 1.2 million of these displaced people have been registered in 151 facilities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) throughout the Gaza Strip.

Since Oct 7, Israel has been launching massive airstrikes and a ground offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas surprise attack on Israel that killed around 1,200 and in which over 200 were taken hostage.