The fate of Palestinian refugees is one of the thorniest issues in the stalled peace process. (document)
The prospect of Gazans crossing into Egypt from the border town of Rafah to escape military attacks would make a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict impossible and create a “cruel plight” for those who fled, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on Friday.
Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said “we must do everything we can” to prevent an exodus from Gaza.
“I can assure you that another refugee crisis from Gaza to Egypt … will make it impossible to solve the Palestinian refugee problem caused by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Grandi told Reuters at the UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.
Some 5.6 million Palestinian refugees currently live in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. They are mainly descendants of people who were forced to leave or fled their homes during the 1948 war related to the creation of the state of Israel.
The fate of Palestinian refugees is one of the thorniest issues in the stalled peace process. Palestinians and Arab states say the deal should include the right of these refugees and their descendants to return to their homes, something Israel has consistently refused to do.
Israel’s planned attack on Rafah drew widespread condemnation. More than a million Gazans in Rafah have been fleeing military offensives further north.
Even Israel’s closest ally, the United States, warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the country would face global isolation if it continued.
Grandi said an attack on Rafah could leave Gazans with “the only safe option” to enter Egypt.
“This predicament is unacceptable and the responsibility to avoid it lies entirely with Israel, the occupying power in Gaza,” he said.
The Israeli military said four Hamas camps remain in the city, as well as an unknown number of senior Islamist movement commanders.
Grandi said UNHCR was stockpiling tents and supplies and working with countries in the region to develop their own contingency plans for the possible arrival of Gazans.
“We are watching the region not only for the possibility of financial outflows, but also for the expansion of conflict,” Grandi said.
“But I say it again, we must not get stuck in that brutal predicament, which is really almost the end of the road to what’s really important here: final peace.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
