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UN: Israel’s evacuation orders deteriorating situation in Gaza

Tuesday, 20 August 2024 10:32 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 21 August 2024 12:36 AM ]

Children walk in the wreckage of homes destroyed by airstrikes in Al Shati refugee camp in Gaza. (Photo by UNICEF)

The United Nations humanitarian office has warned that Israel’s frequent evacuation orders are deteriorating the catastrophic humanitarian situation that already plagues the Gaza Strip.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday that the regime’s repeated evacuation orders have led to waves of displacement, overcrowding, insecurity, and collapsing infrastructure.

It added that thousands of people in Gaza have no access basic services due to Israel’s evacuation orders and severe shortages of essential supplies.

OCHA said the latest evacuation order released on Saturday for parts of Deir al Balah included sections of the Salah ad Din Road, a crucial passage for humanitarian missions.

"This has made it nearly impossible for aid workers to move along this key route," the office said. "The Coastal Road is not a viable alternative. The beaches along this route are now crowded with makeshift shelters for displaced Palestinians."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said nowhere in Gaza is safe anymore and death appears to be the "only certainty" for its people.

Louise Wateridge added that the people of Gaza are facing unprecedented challenges due to the Israeli imposed siege on the territory.

"It does feel like people are waiting for death. Death seems to be the only certainty in this situation," Louise Wateridge, a spokeswoman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, also known as UNRWA, told AFP from Gaza.

Wateridge has been in the Gaza Strip for the past two weeks, witnessing the humanitarian crisis, fear of death and spread of disease as the war rages on.

"Nowhere in the Gaza Strip is safe, absolutely nowhere is safe. It's absolutely devastating," Wateridge said from the Nuseirat area of central Gaza -- a regular target of Israel's aerial assaults.

Hawkish Israeli envoy: UN building must be wiped off from earth

“The UN building should be closed and wiped off from the face of the earth,” Gilad Erdan said in an interview cited by the media.

Israel launched its barbaric campaign of genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023, after Palestinian resistance groups conducted surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories.

The regime has had in place a near-total siege on the coastal territory, which has reduced to a trickle the flow of foodstuffs, medicine, electricity, and water into the Palestinian territory.

So far, Israel has killed more than 40,000 people in Gaza, most of them women, children, and adolescents.

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