United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned of a humanitarian disaster and repercussions for the entire region if the Israeli army continues its attack on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

In a post on Thursday via the social media platform (X), formerly Twitter, Guterres wrote, "Half of Gaza's population is currently crowded in Rafah with nowhere to go. Reports that the Israeli army intends to then focus on Rafah are alarming."

He added that "such a measure would exacerbate the already existing humanitarian nightmare with indescribable regional consequences."

The Israeli government had recently announced an attack on the city of Rafah on the border with Egypt. Before the war, about 200,000 people lived in the city. Now, more than a million Palestinians who fled the fighting from other parts of the Gaza Strip are crowded there.

Egypt fears that a large-scale military operation in Rafah will lead to a flow of desperate Palestinians into the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula.

According to a report published by the "Times of Israel" newspaper, Israeli forces already conducted air raids on Rafah on Thursday. Tanks also shelled the east of the city.

The U.S. government also warned against launching a wide-scale attack on Rafah.

John Kirby, Director of Communications at the National Security Council, said on Thursday: "We believe that carrying out a military operation at this time would be a disaster for these people, we will not support that."