(Rafah, Gaza) — World Central Kitchen (WCK) announced it has suspended its operations in Rafah due to “ongoing attacks” by Israeli forces, with the aid group warning that the humanitarian response is at risk of “collapse.”
The announcement came as Israeli attacks on the southern city of Rafah on the Gaza-Egypt border resumed on Wednesday morning, following a wave of attacks. On Sunday, Israeli airstrikes struck tents sheltering displaced people, killing at least 45 civilians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as a “tragic incident.”
“Israeli military operations in Rafah have forced countless families to flee again,” WCK said in a statement on social platform X. “Due to ongoing attacks, we have been forced to suspend operations at our main kitchen in Rafah and relocate many community kitchens further north.”
Despite the fighting, WCK said in a statement that it had distributed 100,000 meals on Monday and would continue to increase its supply capacity this week, adding that 58 aid trucks had entered Gaza since Sunday.
The group only recently resumed operations after seven workers were accidentally killed in an Israeli airstrike in early April.
WCK is not the only humanitarian organization struggling to continue its aid efforts: Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said in a press release that “no meaningful aid has reached the area” since May 6.
Additionally, Doctors Without Borders said staff and patients at its trauma stabilization facility in Rafah were forced to evacuate on Monday night due to heavy fighting, effectively halting medical assistance at the facility.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) dropped leaflets in Rafah on May 6 and sent text messages in Arabic urging approximately 100,000 people to evacuate the eastern part of the city and head north to the Al-Mawasi humanitarian corridor, ahead of a long-promised major ground invasion of Rafah.
As of Tuesday, about one million people had fled Rafah in search of safety, according to Philippe Lazzarini, executive director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
Despite the heavy fighting, the White House insisted on Tuesday that Israel had not crossed a line in Rafah. White House national security spokesman John Kirby condemned the weekend deaths in Rafah but did not directly blame Israel, saying “Israel has the right to pursue Hamas.”
In a joint statement, 19 aid organisations, including MSF, said Israeli attacks had “collapsed” the capacity of aid organisations and medical teams to respond and that unless a ceasefire was achieved “deaths from hunger, disease and denial of medical assistance would accelerate”.
“As Israel's attacks on Rafah intensify, aid to Gaza has trickled in unpredictably, creating the illusion of improved access, when in reality the humanitarian response is on the verge of collapse,” the statement said.
Aid groups said nearly all of Gaza's hospitals are in areas that have been evacuated and are running out of fuel and supplies.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X on Tuesday that WHO staff and partners had arrived at Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City for the first time since May 13, delivering fuel, beds and medical supplies to meet the needs of 1,500 patients. The hospital is currently at twice its designed capacity but is unable to carry out emergency surgeries due to a lack of specialized staff, Tedros said.
“Gaza's health care system has virtually collapsed,” the statement said. “Health care workers across Gaza say doctors, nurses and other medical personnel continue to be killed or forcibly displaced, and that patients are dying daily due to a lack of medical supplies.”
According to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 36,171 people have been killed and more than 81,420 injured in Gaza since Hamas launched a surprise terror attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel declared war in response. According to Israeli authorities, more than 1,700 Israelis have been killed and more than 8,700 injured.
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