The United Nations has warned that Rafah is turning into a “pressure cooker of despair” amidst the thousands of Palestinians from Gaza fleeing to the border area to take refuge as the humanitarian situation deteriorates.

Jens Laerke, the spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva, stated that they “fear for what comes next.”

“It’s like every week we think, you know, it can’t get any worse. Well, go figure. It gets worse,” he added.

Laerke told journalists that most of the new arrivals at Rafah were “living in makeshift structures, tents, or out in the open.

He stated that half of the food aid provided in the last week was distributed in Rafah, highlighting the concentration of the humanitarian crisis in this area of the Gaza Strip.