Israel has placed nearly 84% of the Gaza Strip under evacuation orders: UN
HAMILTON, Canada – The UN on Monday detailed the mass displacement that followed the Israeli military orders with more than three-quarters of the Gaza Strip population. This is in light of the ongoing hostilities that have claimed the lives of dozens and displaced many other Palestinians, OCHA stated.
Speaking at a news conference, UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq painted a picture of the scale of the evacuations and their impact. ”The fighting and attacks never cease in Gaza; they keep killing Palestinians and destroying the homes and essential services that people with dignity need,” said Haq.
At the weekend, the IDF issued two new evacuation orders for previously evacuated areas in Khan Younis. These orders affected 23 displacement camps, 14 WASH points, and four schools.
“Altogether,” Haq said, “there are approximately 305 square kilometers of the Gaza Strip that have been ordered evacuated by the Israeli military, which, as a proportion of total Gaza Strip territory, accounts for nearly 84 sq. km, or eighty-four percent of the region. ”
Haq also spoke of the still severe problems of humanitarian access to Gaza, where he said “active hostilities, access constraints, high levels of insecurity, and lack of public order and safety” profoundly limited the ability to get aid supplies in. The conflict has continued to mitigate humanitarian operations as the besieged population critically needs aid.
When the author asked Haq if the situation in Gaza could be considered genocide, he pointed out that such a decision had to be made by the relevant courts. He restated what he had said earlier, finding the overall conditions in Gaza ‘worrisome’ and underlining the necessity of the cease-fire.
Increasing Displacement and Civilian Casualty Rate in Lebanon
The UN’s SG also addressed significant concerns about the increase in the death toll and Displacement of civilians in Lebanon due to hostilities. Haq has estimated that based on data from OCHA, the total non-combatant death in Lebanon has risen by 20 percent in the past month, making the total deaths of civilians 120 since October 2006, with women and children accounting for nearly 50 percent of the death toll.
The displacement in Lebanon has risen by almost 4 percent since July 23 to stand at 102 thousand people. The UN’s plea to all parties involved was clear: In his turn, Haq pointed to the need to recall the obligations assumed by all related parties to humanitarian law, underlining that “civilians and civilian property must not be targeted. ”
With the frequency of attacks in Gaza and Lebanon rising daily, the calls for the protection of civilians and compliance with IHL by the UN and other humanitarian agencies have become louder by the day as the poverty of the humanitarian situation in the region.
