Israel's military offensive into Rafah is already taking a dire health toll in southern Gaza, and if it continues "substantial" increases in deaths and "morbidity" can be expected, says Dr Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the Palestinian territories. "If the incursion would continue, we would lose the last hospital in Rafah" he explains, an eventuality that would leave "1.9 million people there dependent on a string of field hospitals." IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES