UN says Israel's evacuation order makes it impossible to deliver Gaza aid

The UN said on Tuesday that the recent evacuation order from the Israeli army “has made it nearly impossible” to deliver aid to needy Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, made his comment in response to journalists’ questions during his daily press conference.

Dujarric said that he had been informed that Israel had included Salah Al-Din Road in the latest evacuation orders issued for parts of Deir Al-Balah over the weekend. “This has made it nearly impossible for aid workers to move along this key route.”

He pointed out that the coast road is not a viable alternative. “Beaches along this route are now crowded with makeshift shelters for displaced people. As a result, convoy movements along the Coastal Road are extremely slow, and critical supplies and services, such as water trucking, are not reaching people in need at anywhere near the scale required.”

The Israeli army has issued large-scale evacuation orders in various areas of the Gaza Strip since 7 October last year. On Friday morning, the occupation army issued evacuation orders from eastern Deir Al-Balah and new areas in Khan Yunis, including Al-Qarara, Hamad City and areas in Al-Mawasi, reducing the area that it previously claimed was “safe”.

According to UN data, 9 out of 10 people living in Gaza have been forced to flee due to Israeli attacks. With US support, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since 7 October, killing or wounding more than 132,000 Palestinians, most of them children and women, with more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and a deadly shortage of food and fresh water.

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