The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that any move by Israel to expand its operations in the Gaza Strip to include the densely populated southern city of Rafah could lead to war crimes that must be prevented by all means.

Jan Egeland, spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told reporters in Geneva that indiscriminate bombing of densely populated areas could amount to war crimes under international humanitarian law.

This comes as the office reported increased bombing in Rafah Governorate on Sunday and Monday.

At the same time, thousands of Gaza residents continue to flow into the southern governorate, including many fleeing the heavy fighting in Khan Younis.

As a result of this displacement, the population of Rafah has increased fivefold since the outbreak of war in the sector on October 7, previously estimated at three hundred thousand to now about 1.4 million.

Egeland said: "The intense hostilities in Rafah – under this situation – can lead to large civilian casualties and we must do everything in our power to avoid that."

Regarding the ongoing fighting in Khan Younis, Tomaso della Longa, spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said that eight thousand people who had been sheltering at Al-Amal Hospital left on Monday.

But he said the situation in Gaza is a nightmare and too big to be catastrophic and continues to worsen, expressing sorrow over the martyrdom of relief worker Hidaya Hamad, from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, during the bombing on the Al-Amal Hospital complex on Friday.

Della Longa indicated that the hospital had been besieged – for the past two weeks – by intense bombing and fighting, with no way to enter or leave it. He spoke of a severe shortage of medicine, food, and water, saying that restocking supplies at the hospital and accessing ambulances is nearly impossible.

Nearly 100 people remain inside the health facility, including elderly patients and others with disabilities who cannot be moved, along with staff and volunteers.

The spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said: "I do not even want to think about the possibility of closing Al-Amal Hospital in the coming days," noting that the same scenario happened at another hospital, Al-Quds Hospital, in Gaza City, which the Palestinian Red Crescent declared stopped working in November.