UN says nearly 86% of Gaza Strip under Israeli evacuation orders

The UN highlighted on Monday the extent of the Israeli occupation army’s evacuation orders in the Gaza Strip, saying that they cover nearly 86 per cent of the Palestinian enclave, Anadolu has reported.

“Our colleagues from the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that repeated waves of displacement, combined with overcrowding, insecurity, crumbling infrastructure and active hostilities and limited services are worsening the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which is already catastrophic,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters at a news conference.

He noted that the latest Israeli evacuation order, issued on Saturday, has had an impact on around 13,500 already displaced Palestinians across 18 sites. The order includes the entire Al-Maghazi refugee camp and several neighbourhoods in Gaza’s central Deir Al-Balah region.

“Initial mapping indicates that the areas newly placed under evacuation order include five school buildings, 14 water sanitation and health facilities and 10 health sites, including two primary health care centres and five medical points,” said Dujarric. “Since October, 86 per cent of the Gaza Strip, or roughly 314 square kilometres [over 121 square miles], has been placed under evacuation orders.”

He added that people are being concentrated in a zone designated by Israeli authorities in the southern area of Al-Mawasi, where the population density has surged to between 30,000 and 34,000 people per square kilometre.

The UN official also conveyed a World Humanitarian Day message from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, saying that humanitarian aid workers “are striving to alleviate hardship and pain” of those suffering worldwide.

“Last year, 2023, was the deadliest year on record for humanitarian personnel,” said Guterres. “In Gaza, in Sudan and in many other places, humanitarian workers are being attacked, killed, injured and abducted, alongside the civilians they support.”

Demanding an end to attacks on all aid workers and civilians, the UN chief added: “Celebrating humanitarians is not enough. We must all do more to protect and safeguard our common humanity.”

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