UN humanitarian aid chief Martin Griffiths has issued a statement warning that a ground operation on Rafah is “on the immediate horizon” despite the world “appealing to the Israeli authorities for weeks to spare” the Palestinian city.

Israel’s plan to send ground forces into the last civilian refuge in the Gaza Strip — where more than 1 million people fled in search of safety from Israeli attacks — will “spell even more trauma and death”, Griffiths warns.

“We are in a race to stave off hunger and death, and we are losing,” he said.

“For agencies struggling to provide humanitarian aid despite the active hostilities, impassable roads, unexploded ordnance, fuel shortages, delays at checkpoints, and Israeli restrictions, a ground invasion would strike a disastrous blow,” he added.

“The simplest truth is that a ground operation in Rafah will be nothing short of a tragedy beyond words. No humanitarian plan can counter that.”