The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) in London handed over a briefing to the UN Human Rights Council Member States about the ongoing Israeli genocidal military campaign against Palestinians in Rafah city, south of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli occupation has said it will proceed with an assault on the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1.4 million people are estimated to have taken refuge - around half of them children. Israel has called on residents from more areas of Rafah in the Gaza Strip to evacuate and head to the ‘expanded humanitarian area’ as it prepares to ramp up its latest genocidal military assault.

PRC said the United Nations and other agencies have continued to raise the alarm for weeks of an Israeli assault on Rafah, which borders Egypt near the main aid entry points, would cripple humanitarian operations and cause a disastrous surge in civilian casualties.

It added that the UK government has said it had “not seen a credible plan to protect civilians” and questioned the suitability of the current evacuation area of al Mawasi, describing it as “pretty barren land”.

Quoting the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, PRC said what Israel calls “humanitarian measures” to ostensibly provide civilians with protective measures during armed conflict are in fact “genocidal tools to achieve ethnic cleansing.”

PRC called on the UN Rights Council’s Member States to increase pressure on the Israeli occupation, including by imposing an arms embargo, summoning Israel’s ambassadors, closing diplomatic channels, and supporting accountability measures in order to bring about a ceasefire to the ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.