Israel reduced 'humanitarian zone' to 11% of Gaza, says UN agency

By Rasa Evrensel

ISTANBUL (AA) - The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Saturday that Israel has reduced the so-called "humanitarian zone" in Gaza to just 11% of the territory, causing widespread panic and fear among displaced people.

In a statement, UNRWA said: “Thousands of families continue to be displaced in Gaza as Israeli authorities issue new evacuation orders.”

“The so-called ‘humanitarian zone’ has shrunk to just 11% of the Gaza Strip, causing chaos and fear among the displaced,” it added.

The UN agency reiterated its call for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

On Saturday and Friday, the Israeli military ordered immediate evacuation of residents in central and southern Gaza Strip.

Separately, UNRWA Communications Officer Louise Wateridge stated on X: "Once again new evacuation orders: many of the thousands of families affected only recently arrived in the area, after other displacement orders in Khan Younis.”

She noted: "Through shattered windows, nothing but shattered homes and shattered lives. People trapped in this endless nightmare.”

On Tuesday, UNRWA reported that approximately 84% of Gaza's territory has been under evacuation orders since Oct. 7.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack last year by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

The Israeli onslaught has since killed nearly 40,100 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 92,500, according to local health authorities.

More than 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi