UN Says Gaza Humanitarian Operation Delayed Due To Evacuation Orders.
The United Nations says it has been forced to temporarily halt its relief operations in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli military evacuation orders in the heart of the Palestinian enclave.
A senior UN official informed reporters that aid workers were unable to operate on Monday due to safety concerns.
Evacuation orders for areas of the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in and around the central town of Deir al-Balah, where the UN’s main operations center is located, pushed staff to transfer hastily and leave equipment behind, they added.
However, the official added that UN agencies would not be leaving Gaza and were now looking for a safe place to function.
The Israeli military has stated that it gives evacuation orders to safeguard civilians while operating against Hamas and other armed groups.
Earlier on Monday, it stated that troops were continuing to “dismantle terrorist infrastructure” and “eliminate terrorists” on the outskirts of Deir al-Balah.
According to the UN, which is the principal provider and distributor of humanitarian aid in Gaza, up to 88.5% of the territory has been ordered evacuated since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas.
This has pushed an estimated 1.8 million people to seek refuge within the humanitarian zone, which covers only around 41 square kilometers (15.8 square miles) and lacks crucial infrastructure and basic amenities.
In response to an extraordinary strike on southern Israel on October 7, the Israeli military launched an operation in Gaza to crush Hamas, killing around 1,200 people and holding 251 more captive.
More than 40,430 people have died in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Local officials in Deir al-Balah said about 250,000 people have been forced to abandon numerous neighborhoods of the town since August 16, when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began issuing evacuation orders.
Humanitarian workers from various UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, and service providers, as well as their families, have been relocated as a result of the directives.
The UN said a new order issued on Sunday that spanned one block in the town’s south had affected 15 UN and NGO buildings, as well as four UN warehouses.
“We’re unable to deliver today under the conditions that we’re in,” the top UN official stated on Monday. “As of this morning, we’re not operating in Gaza.”
However, UN workers have been directed to develop solutions that will allow activities to resume.
“We’re not leaving because the people need us there,” the official stated. “We’re trying to balance the need of the population with the need for safety and security of the UN personnel.”
Sam Rose, a senior deputy field director for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Deir al-Balah, said that both UN officials and Palestinian residents were “being squeezed into ever smaller areas of Gaza.”.
“Israel’s declared humanitarian zone has reduced. It currently covers approximately 11% of the Gaza Strip,” he told reporters in New York via video hookup. “This is more than merely 11% of land that is suitable for human habitation, services, and life. These are sand dunes, congested locations where people live side by side, doing whatever they can to get by.”
“It is precisely in these circumstances that polio has lately resurfaced in Gaza, with a few cases. “It could spread very quickly,” he said.
“Children are malnourished. The healthcare sector was ravaged. Poor water and sanitation. People live in garbage dumps and sewage lagoons. They’re nervous and anxious, and their immune systems are compromised.”
Mr. Rose stated that UNRWA and other UN agencies have been focussing their efforts on the polio vaccine campaign, which is set to begin this Saturday and aims to immunize more than 640,000 children to avert an outbreak.
“The immunizations have arrived. We are calling for calm and humanitarian pauses to allow vaccination programs to pass and be successfully implemented.”
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has also cautioned that the recent evacuation order in Deir al–Balah affected areas near al-Aqsa hospital, the town’s primary medical facility.
The medical organization said in a statement on X that an explosion roughly 250m (820ft) from the facility on Sunday caused panic, with many people preferring to evacuate.
“As a result, MSF is considering temporarily suspending wound care while continuing to provide life-saving therapy. According to the Ministry of Health, only 100 of the approximately 650 patients remain in the hospital, with seven in the intensive care unit.
“The situation is unacceptable. Al-Aqsa has been working well past capacity for weeks due to a lack of patient choices. All fighting sides must respect the hospital and patients’ right to medical care.
Dr. Anas Ibrahim, an emergency physician at the hospital, told BBC Arabic’s Gaza Today show on Monday that the situation there was “indescribable.”.
“As the evacuation news spread, patients with fractures and wounds all began to evacuate the hospital for fear of being exposed to an offensive,” he told me.
“Terror, anxiety, and panic have overpowered everyone in the hospital. Everyone is terrified right now, and everyone is waiting to see what happens.”
The IDF stated that the evacuation order did not include local hospitals or medical institutions and that patients and medical staff were not required to leave.
