This week, the Israeli military issued an evacuation order, forcing about a third of the Gaza Strip to flee. Nearly nine months of war has left tens of thousands dead and injured, and the region is at risk of famine, while the people of Gaza are increasingly unable to cope with repeated forced displacement.
The United Nations estimates that the order affects about 250,000 people and is the largest since October last year, when about 1 million northern Gaza residents were asked to flee their homes. explain Tuesday.
“It’s an endless cycle of death and displacement,” Louise Watridge, a spokeswoman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the main aid agency for Palestinians, said by voice message in central Gaza on Wednesday. “People here are saying they are losing hope, they are losing willpower, facing yet another forced displacement and absolutely no security.”
On Monday, the Israeli military issued a warning to evacuate large parts of Khan Yunis and Rafah, and on Tuesday Thousands of people began to fleeThe Israeli military then launched a heavy overnight bombardment of southern and central Gaza. The order came after the Israeli military said Palestinian armed groups fired about 20 rockets from Gaza at Israeli cities on Monday.
Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said on Tuesday his colleagues were “deeply concerned” about the impact of the order.
“People are facing a difficult choice: whether to relocate — some likely for the second or even third time — to areas with virtually no space or services, or to stay in areas where they know there will be heavy fighting,” he said.
Dujarric said the order covers more than 90 school buildings, many of which have been turned into overcrowded shelters because people have no place to stay, as well as four health care facilities.
They include the European Hospital in Khan Younis, where many people have taken refuge and hundreds of patients are being treated. After medical staff, patients and displaced people fled the hospital, the Israeli military said on Tuesday that there was no need for people to leave.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Wednesday that the hospital could no longer function normally due to the large number of staff leaving.
Although many people in the evacuation zone have decided to flee again, resettlement It’s getting harder As the war continued.
“In terms of people’s mobility, the war has been going on for eight months, people are extremely tired, exhausted, malnourished,” Ms. Waterridge said. In terms of health, she said: “People are weaker, there are more injured, there is less medicine available, less fresh fruit, less water.”
