Any escalation of military activities in the Gaza Strip will be “catastrophic” for people there, the UN high commissioner for refugees says, AFP reports.

“(I) can tell you with certainty that any further escalation or even continuation of military activities will just be catastrophic for the people of Gaza,” Filippo Grandi tells reporters in Japan.

While stressing that the refugee agency UNHCR has no formal mandate in the Palestinian Territories or Israel, Grandi says he “shares the extreme worry and anguish that has been expressed by many of my colleagues including the UN secretary general” about the conflict.

He also calls the Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7 “appalling” and said that the consequences of the conflict spreading into Lebanon and elsewhere would be “incalculable”.