UN warns Israel’s Gaza evacuation order will cause ‘mass suffering for Palestinian families’

The United Nations has warned that Israel’s new Gaza evacuation order will exacerbate “mass suffering for Palestinian families”, as more than 300,000 Palestinians are estimated to reside in the north of the besieged territory.

In remarks at a news conference on Wednesday, UN secretary general’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric described the level of fighting and destruction in Gaza in recent days as “truly shocking.”

“OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) warns that Israel’s instruction for people to leave Gaza City will only fuel mass suffering for Palestinian families, many of whom have been displaced again and again,” he said.

Dujarric once again reiterated the world body’s demand on the Israeli regime to “respect international humanitarian law.”

The UN official also gave an update from the humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian Territory, Muhannad Hadi, saying that aid deliveries “fall far short of the needs in Gaza” despite aid workers’ efforts.

Israel has now issued three evacuation orders for Gaza City and one for the south of the Palestinian territory. Gaza City residents have now been told to move to the central district of Dayr al-Balah, which is highly overcrowded with Palestinians displaced from other areas of the Gaza Strip.

Hadi “witnessed firsthand” troubling scenes of public disorder, particularly at the Kerem Shalom crossing, Dujarric said, adding, “He saw groups of men with sticks waiting for trucks to leave the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza. All trucks he passed were badly damaged, with broken windshields, mirrors and hoods.”

Israel, which continues to flout a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, faces international condemnation amid its barbarous campaign in Gaza.

Although the regime designated Dayr al-Balah and Zawaida as safe zones, the military continues to attack the areas.

Israel 'ethnically cleansing' Gaza City as all civilians ordered to leave

The United Nations, meanwhile, says about 90% of Gaza’s population has been displaced since October.

During the past 10 days, the occupying regime has issued instructions for hundreds of thousands of people in Khan Yunis in the south, Shujaya in central Gaza and several neighborhoods of Gaza City to leave. As a result, there has been an increase in the total number of the displaced from 1.7 million in May to an estimated 1.9 million now, according to the UN.

OCHA said on Monday that 90 percent of Gazans had been displaced over the past months. 

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas launched the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians. Israel has killed over 38,000 Palestinians so far, including around 17,000 children. 

The regime has been enforcing a near-total siege on the coastal territory, which has reduced the flow of foodstuffs, medicine, electricity, and water into the Palestinian territory into a trickle.

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