World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses the opening session of the World Governments Summit in Dubai on February 12, 2024. (PHOTO / AFP)

GENEVA / GAZA / RAMALLAH - The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday called on Israel to halt its ground assault on Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza, saying 1.2 million people there have nowhere safe to go.

"I'm gravely concerned about reports of an Israeli plan to proceed with a ground assault on Rafah," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"Further escalation of violence in this densely populated area would lead to many more deaths and suffering, especially with health facilities already overwhelmed," he added.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 31,553, Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Saturday

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved plans on Friday for an attack on Rafah, where about 1.5 million Palestinian refugees are seeking shelter.

The global health agency appealed to Israel not to proceed with the military operation, and instead work toward peace "in the name of humanity."

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This humanitarian catastrophe must not be allowed to worsen, Tedros said.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 31,553, Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement on Saturday.

During the past 24 hours, the Israeli army killed 63 Palestinians and wounded 112 others, raising the total death toll to 31,553 and injuries to 73,546, since the Israel-Hamas conflict broke out, according to the ministry.

At least 36 Palestinians were killed, and several others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, medical sources and eyewitnesses said.

This photo taken on March 16, 2024 shows a view of the Nuseirat refugee camp after an Israeli airstrike in the central Gaza Strip. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Eyewitnesses told Xinhua that the Israeli aircraft targeted a house for the Tabatibi family, west of the Nuseirat camp, with a number of missiles, which led to its complete destruction and damage to neighboring homes.

Medical sources told Xinhua that the Israeli raid resulted in the killing of 36 people, including children and pregnant women.

In the West Bank,  a Palestinian was shot dead Saturday by Israeli soldiers while he was hiding in a cemetery in the city of Hebron and opened fire at an Israeli neighborhood, according to Palestinian sources and Israeli media reports.

Palestinian security sources told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that the man, identified as Mahmoud Nofal, 42, suffered heavy Israeli gunshots, adding that Israeli soldiers prevented Palestinian ambulance crews from reaching him.

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On the other hand, the Israeli public radio reported that the army thwarted a shooting attack targeting the Jewish neighborhood, noting that there were no injuries.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has urged for an international humanitarian intervention via a binding resolution in the UN Security Council to compel Israel to halt its attacks in the Gaza Strip

The radio said that the forces neutralized the assailant near the cemetery, arrested another, and conducted search operations in the area for other suspects.

The Palestinian sources added that Israeli forces have raided the man's home, and closed several streets in the city with increased security presence.

With Nofal's death, the number of Palestinian deaths in the West Bank since Oct 7, 2023, has risen to 435, according to the Gaza-based Health Ministry.

Meanwhile, Hamas-run government media office held the American administration, the international community, and Israel "fully responsible for the escalation of these crimes and massacres against defenseless civilians."

Boys wait while holding empty pots with other displaced Palestinians queueing for meals provided by a charity organisation ahead of the fast-breaking "iftar" meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 16, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (PHOTO / AFP)

The office called on in a statement all countries of the free world to put pressure on Israel to stop the "genocidal war".

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has urged for an international humanitarian intervention via a binding resolution in the UN Security Council to compel Israel to halt its attacks in the Gaza Strip, guaranteeing the safety of civilians and the delivery of aid in a sustainable manner.

In a press statement, the foreign ministry highlighted that Israel persistently threatens to invade the city of Rafah without offering a realistic plan to safeguard civilians and address their fundamental humanitarian requirements.

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Israel has launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.