UN warns Israel on Gaza evacuation orders, says they 'do not keep civilians safe'

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - The UN on Monday raised grave concerns over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, warning Israel against issuing evacuation orders.

"Ordering civilians to evacuate does not keep them safe if they have no safe place to go and no shelter, food, medicine or water to survive," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

Dujarric warned that areas north of Wadi Gaza are increasingly being cut off, exacerbating an already dire crisis.

He stated that Israel's evacuation orders for large regions has forced more than 400,000 people to move south to Al-Mawasi, "an area that is overcrowded, polluted and lacking in the basic services that people need to survive."

"Southern Gaza is completely overwhelmed and cannot accommodate more people," he stressed.

Saying that over 50,000 people have been displaced within northern Gaza as of Monday morning, Dujarric said "many others in the north, especially in Jabalya camp, are trapped in their homes, unable to leave safely."

Dujarric further sounded the alarm for northern Gaza, saying that the situation "is increasingly dire, with residential areas attacked, hospitals ordered to evacuate, and electricity still cut off."

"As heavy bombing and ground operations in the north continue, medical facilities and other essential services there are at risk of shutting down," he said.

Highlighting the shortage of resources, Dujarric also noted that aid workers are facing significant challenges, with only minimal humanitarian aid trickling through Israeli checkpoints.

"Israeli authorities have allocated a single, unsafe road for aid workers to bring in supplies from the Kerem Shalom crossing," he said, adding that the UN and its partners on the ground continues "to provide life-saving assistance to Palestinians in Gaza, wherever and whenever possible."

Dujarric also shared that UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has provided over 5.6 million medical consultations, reached nearly 1.9 million people with food aid, and offered psychosocial support sessions to over 700,000 internally displaced people since Oct. 7 until Sept. 22 this year.

Israel has continued its relentless offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

Since then, nearly 42,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed, with over 97,100 others injured, according to local health authorities.

The ongoing Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip, exacerbating shortages of food, clean water, and medicine due to a long-standing blockade.

Israel is currently facing genocide charges at the International Court of Justice over its actions in Gaza.