UN Condemns Israeli Evacuation Order in Gaza As Civilians Are Trapped, Aid Is Blocked
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The United Nations sharply denounced Israel’s latest evacuation order in central Gaza, calling it a direct assault on civilian survival as the occupation intensifies its genocidal war on Palestinians.
The Israeli military issued a sweeping evacuation directive covering 5.6 square kilometers in Deir al-Balah, displacing up to 80,000 civilians, including 30,000 already sheltering at 57 displacement sites, according to UN data.
“At least 1,000 families have fled the area in the recent hours,” stated the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“Today’s mass displacement order issued by the Israeli military has dealt yet another devastating blow to the already fragile lifelines keeping people alive across the Gaza Strip,” the UN added.
The zone now targeted by the occupation includes warehouses storing essential aid, four health clinics, and Gaza’s Southern Desalination Plant — all vital to the enclave’s survival.
“Any damage to this infrastructure will have life-threatening consequences,” OCHA warned.
Despite the evacuation orders, UN humanitarian staff remain in the area. Their positions, as per protocol, have been shared with the relevant parties.
“These locations – as with all civilian sites – must be protected, regardless of displacement orders,” the UN emphasized.
With this new order, Israel has turned 87.8% of Gaza into either a militarized zone or an evacuation zone, leaving 2.1 million Palestinians crammed into just 12% of the land — furthering what rights groups call systematic ethnic cleansing.
The UN said that Israel is “choking humanitarian access when it is needed most,” especially as the order isolates Deir al-Balah from the coast.
On Monday, Israel launched fresh massacres across the Gaza Strip.
Five displaced Palestinians were killed in an airstrike on a tent in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Yunis.
Two more civilians were slain by an Israeli drone attack in the al-Nazla area of Jabalia.
In central Gaza, two others were killed in Deir al-Balah.
As famine deepens, at least 18 people — mostly children — have starved to death in the past 24 hours, with humanitarian access cut and food supplies exhausted.
Since October 2023, Israel’s war has killed nearly 59,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children, and reduced the besieged enclave to rubble. Hospitals have collapsed. Water is contaminated. Starvation is rampant.
The International Criminal Court last November issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former war minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Israel is also under trial at the International Court of Justice for genocide — a charge grounded in its methodical destruction of Palestinian life, infrastructure, and society.
