UN says around 30,000 Palestinians packed into every sq. km. of Gaza’s so-called ‘safe zones'

Around 30,000 people are packed into every square kilometre in Gaza’s Israel-designated “safe zones” amid Israeli evacuation orders for residents of the enclave, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Wednesday.

“Protracted military operations and repeated evacuation orders have forced families in the Gaza Strip to flee again and again,” said UNRWA. Thousands of displaced Palestinian civilians began evacuating their areas in eastern Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday after new Israeli orders for refugees to move.

The area was previously designated as a “safe zone” for civilians, but the Israeli army ordered residents to leave it ahead of a new military operation there. Military spokesman Avichay Adraee said certain neighbourhoods in Deir Al-Balah are now deemed a “dangerous combat zone,” and called on residents to move westward ahead of an imminent attack in the area.

“Many are seeking shelter in parts of Al-Mawasi, where around 30,000 people are packed into every sq. km.,” explained UNRWA, referring to an area designated by the Israeli army as a “safe zone” for Palestinian civilians. “Before the war, there were only 1,200 per sq. km.”

Last week, UNRWA said that Israel had reduced the so-called “humanitarian safe zone” in Gaza to just 11 per cent of the territory, causing widespread panic and fear among displaced people.

According to Gaza’s government media office, two million people in Gaza have been displaced by Israel’s ongoing offensive against Palestinians in the enclave.

Israel is continuing its brutal offensive on Gaza which began after the cross-border incursion by Hamas last October. The onslaught has killed over 40,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and wounded nearly 93,000 others, according to local health authorities. Vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice for its actions in the blockaded enclave. It denies the allegation.

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