The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement through his spokesperson on Monday, once again urgently calling on the Israeli government and the leadership of Hamas to make further efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement.
Guterres expressed his deep concerns on the indications that a large-scale military operation in Rafah may be imminent, saying that people have been seen in desperate humanitarian condition and repeatedly displaced.
Guterres reminds all parties concerned that the protection of civilians is paramount in international humanitarian law.
Talking to reporters on Monday after meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Guterres said, "I made today a very strong appeal to the Government of Israel and to the leadership of the Hamas in order to go an extra mile to materialize an agreement that is absolutely vital. This is an opportunity that cannot be missed. And the ground invasion in Rafah would be intolerable because of its devastating humanitarian consequences and because of its destabilizing impact in the region."
Israel's military said on Monday night that it was carrying out large-scale airstrikes in Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip, hours after Hamas announced acceptance of an Egyptian-Qatari proposal regarding a ceasefire in the strip. The Israeli army on Tuesday ordered local residents to evacuate to a so-called "humanitarian zone" in southwestern Gaza's Al Mawasi in preparation for a planned ground assault in eastern Rafah.
The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip from the ongoing Israeli attacks had surpassed 34,600, the Health Ministry in Gaza announced on Friday.
UN chief calls on Israel, Hamas to reach ceasefire agreement
The endangered Tibetan antelopes have started their annual mass migration after the first batch of 47 female Tibetan antelopes passed through the Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve in northwest China's Qinghai Province on May 7.
To protect the rare species that are under top-class state protection, the management team of Hoh Xil in the province's Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture has set up the Wudaoliang protection station along the migration route. As of noon on Sunday, over 700 Tibetan antelopes had been spotted passing through the station.
The Tibetan antelope, known as the "fairies of the plateau", undertakes a migration from May to July each year. Female antelopes from the Sanjiangyuan region of Qinghai, parts of Qiangtang Terrane in Tibet, and the Arjin Mountains in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, would travel to the Zhuonai Lake in Hoh Xil to give birth before returning to their original habitats with their newborns.
"For Tibetan antelopes, we divide them into six species groups according to their geographical distribution. For example, Qinghai and Xinjiang have one group each. For Xizang (Tibet), there are three species groups in the east, central and west of the Qiangtang Terrane. And there is also one group in southern Qiangtang Terrane, which don't migrate," said Lian Xinming, researcher at the Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
With an average altitude of over 4,600 meters, the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve is known as a "no-life zone" due to its thin air and low oxygen levels.
However, it is an important habitat for Tibetan antelopes, which can reach top speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour while running. Lian explained the reasons behind the antelopes' remarkable speed.
"I think one of the reasons why they run so fast is that they've got underfur. The warmth of its underfur is one of the characteristics of its ability to adapt to alpine cold and high altitudes. The diameter of its fur can be as thin as about one-seventh of our human hair on the temples. Secondly, its has been found in physiology that the hemoglobin of Tibetan antelope has a blood oxygen capacity that is more than 30 percent higher than that of other plain animals, which proves that the same number of red blood cells has stronger ability to carry oxygen. That should enable the Tibetan antelope to reach 70 or 80 kilometers per hour in a short time," Lian said.
After years of conservation efforts, the Tibetan antelope population in the Hoh Xil region has increased from less than 20,000 in the late 1980s to currently over 70,000.
Tibetan antelopes on migration journey to Hoh Xil Nature Reserve
