This week, the Israeli military ordered the evacuation of about a third of the Gaza Strip as residents increasingly succumb to the continuing forced displacement after nearly nine months of war that has killed and injured tens of thousands and left the territory at risk of famine.
The order, which the United Nations estimates affects about 250,000 people, is the largest since October, when about a million residents in northern Gaza were told to leave their homes, the organization said. speak on Tuesday.
“This is an endless cycle of death and displacement,” Louise Wateridge, a spokeswoman for the main UN agency assisting Palestinians, UNRWA, said in voice messages from central Gaza on Wednesday. “People here are expressing that they are losing hope, they are losing the will, facing another forced displacement and there is absolutely no certainty of safety.”
On Monday, the Israeli military issued a warning to leave much of the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, and by Tuesday thousands of people have begun to fleeThe order was followed by a night of heavy shelling in southern and central Gaza. It came after the Israeli military said Palestinian militants fired a barrage of about 20 rockets from Gaza toward Israeli cities on Monday.
The UN secretary-general’s spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said on Tuesday that his colleagues were “very concerned” about the impact of the order.
“People are forced to make the impossible choice of moving – some for a second or even third time – to areas with virtually no space or services, or staying in areas where they know there will be heavy fighting,” he said.
The order applies to more than 90 school buildings, many of which have become overflow shelters because people have nowhere else to stay, along with four medical facilities, Dujarric said.
Among them is the European Hospital in Khan Younis, where many people are taking shelter and hundreds of patients are being treated. After medical staff, patients and evacuees fled the hospital, the Israeli military said on Tuesday that people should not leave the hospital.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Wednesday that the hospital was no longer operational because so many staff had quit.
Although many residents in the evacuation area decided to flee again, the relocation getting harder and harder while the war continues.
“In terms of people’s mobility, it’s been eight months of war, people are extremely tired, exhausted, malnourished,” said Wateridge. In terms of health, she said, “people are much weaker, there are more injuries, less medicine, less fresh fruit, less water.”
More and more people are fleeing by road and carrying fewer belongings, she said.
Heba Usrof, 29, a singer living in Khan Younis, said she only learned about the evacuation order when she saw hundreds of people walking past outside. Some carried mattresses, while others had only backpacks, she said.
“They didn’t have much luggage this time,” said Usrof. “I believe they were too tired to keep carrying things from place to place, and they didn’t have any money to pay for the truck.”
Ms. Usrof said she lives with her family of five in their remaining two-story house, in a part of the city that is not subject to the evacuation order. If tanks approach their home and they have to flee again, she said, she might take only her ID, cell phone and a change of clothes.
Among the dangers people face as they flee are unexploded bombs and other munitions, a particular risk for children, according to the United Nations.
A 9-year-old girl was killed and three others injured on Saturday by an unexploded bomb south of Khan Younis, the organization reported. And six children were injured in a similar blast in the city last month.
Abu Bakr Bashir Contributed reporting from London.
