Israel has ordered the mass evacuation of up to 1.1 million Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip over the next 24 hours ahead of a possible ground invasion targeting Hamas terrorists.
The warning was first shared by the United Nations early Friday before the Israeli army sent a civilian evacuation order that the international organization called “impossible.”
“Today the team leaders of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Department of Safety and Security in Gaza were informed by their liaison officers in the Israeli army that all Gazans north of Wadi Gaza should move to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours,” the spokesman said. UN Stéphane Dujarric to Axios.
The UN estimates that some 1.1 million civilians – almost half of Gaza’s entire population – will have to be displaced as a result of the order.
At the same time, the Israeli military issued a statement ordering hundreds of thousands of civilians living in Gaza City to head further south to the Gaza Strip, saying Hamas terrorists were hiding in tunnels under the city.
Smoke billows after a bomb from an Israeli airstrike hit a building in Gaza City on Oct. 12. 2023.ZUMAPRESS.com
“The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to occur without devastating humanitarian consequences,” Dujarric said.
“The United Nations strongly appeals that any such order, if confirmed, be revoked to avoid what could turn what has already become a tragedy into a disadvantageous situation,” he said.
The short-notice evacuation warning comes as Israel has hit Gaza with 6,000 bombs in retaliation for a surprise attack by Hamas over the weekend that killed more than 1,300 Israelis.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a joint press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel on Oct. 12. 2023. Israel PM Press Service/UPI/Shutterstock
Israel has halted deliveries of food, water, fuel and electricity to Gaza’s 2.3 million residents and Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said Thursday there would be no exceptions to the siege without freedom for its hostages taken by Hamas.
“No electrical switch will be turned on, no water faucet will be turned on, and no oil truck will come in until the Israeli abductees return home. Humanity for humanity. And no one is going to teach us about morality,” Katz said.
The blockade poses a major risk to the beleaguered hospital system in the strip, which is on the brink of a “humanitarian catastrophe,” the World Health Organization warned.
Muslim protesters burn US and Israeli national flags during a rally against Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, outside the US Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia on Oct. 11. 2023. AP
Israel has relentlessly attacked and bombed the area since Hamas launched a surprise attack on the country and its unsuspecting civilians on Saturday.
More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in retaliation for deadly Hamas attacks over the weekend, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Another 338,000 Gazans have been displaced by the conflict, according to the UN.
At least 12 UN staff have been killed in the chaos.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
