The United Nations expressed deep concern Tuesday over an Israeli evacuation order for a large swath of the southern Gaza Strip, which it said affects tens of thousands of civilians.
"Yesterday's order for evacuation of 117 square kilometers in Khan Younis and Rafah governorates applies to about a third of the Gaza Strip – making it the largest such order since October, when residents were ordered to evacuate northern Gaza," Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters.
The U.N. agency that assists Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, estimates that nearly 250,000 people may have resided in the areas under the order at the time it was issued.
Dujarric said people in those areas are left with the "impossible choice" of having to relocate again, to areas that have barely any spaces or services, or staying where they know fighting will take place.
He said the new evacuation order covers an area with more than 90 schools, most of which are housing the displaced, as well as four medical points.
Israeli forces carried out attacks in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, with Palestinian health officials saying at least eight people were killed.
The attacks included bombardments of Khan Younis, a day after Israel issued its latest evacuation order to Palestinians in the city.
Israel's military said it carried out airstrikes overnight in an area of Khan Younis where militants had fired 20 rockets toward Israeli settlements.
More Israeli airstrikes targeted the southern city of Rafah, while Israeli ground troops conducted operations against Hamas in central Gaza, the military said.
Israel has repeatedly told Palestinians to leave certain parts of Gaza, usually ahead of military offensives, in a move Israel says is meant to protect civilians from the war. The evacuations, along with the fighting, have meant people have had to flee multiple times in search of safety.
A resident who lives in the targeted evacuation zone, Ahmad Najjar, told Agence France-Presse, "Fear and extreme anxiety have gripped people after the evacuation order." He observed that there has been "a large displacement of residents."
Aid flows
In New York, Sigrid Kaag, the U.N. senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, told a meeting of the U.N. Security Council that since Israel began its military operation in Rafah in early May, the volume of aid entering and being distributed across Gaza "has dropped significantly."
"Military activity and the lack of safe routes inside Gaza continue to severely impact humanitarian operations," she said. "A near-total breakdown of civil order has further led to an environment of lawlessness and criminality."
Kaag said the United Nations has asked Israel to find solutions to allow for the safe delivery of aid. Israel disputes that it is not fulfilling its commitments and says it is allowing aid to flow into Gaza from several crossing points.
"Although intentions and commitments may be convincing, the only credible measure of change and progress are the improvements in the lives and well-being of Palestinian civilians in Gaza," she said.
Kaag has also been tasked by the Security Council with establishing a mechanism to monitor and verify the humanitarian nature of all aid entering Gaza to facilitate its speedy distribution. She said it is now operational.
"The mechanism is now capturing humanitarian aid shipments from Jordan, Cyprus, Israel, and the West Bank into Gaza, ensuring greater volume at certain times, transparency and prioritization," she said, adding the mechanism would be active for relief supplies coming from Egypt by mid-July.
Kaag said options are also being discussed on the feasibility and longer-term planning of the Cyprus Maritime Corridor. Relief supplies have been inspected in Cyprus and sent by ship to Gaza since mid-May, but the U.S.-constructed pier that receives them has been plagued with problems and is currently not functional.
Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza erupted when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, mostly civilians, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed nearly 38,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, and left the densely built-up coastal enclave in ruins.
VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
