The IDF called on all residents of Gaza City to evacuate their homes to the south, saying this was for their personal safety. The IDF statement added that Hamas terrorists are hiding in the city “in tunnels under houses and inside buildings full of innocent civilians,” and that it was planning to operate “significantly in Gaza City” in the coming days. They were told to relocate to the area south of Wadi Aza, which is in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric, who received the IDF order, suggested it would be “impossible” to carry out without “devastating humanitarian consequences.”
Dah.
We are devastated to confirm that 12 @UNRWA colleagues have been killed since 7 October in the ?#GazaStrip
We mourn this loss and are grieving with our colleagues and the families.@UN staff and civilians must be protected at all times. pic.twitter.com/bGt9GUM0zp
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 12, 2023
Meanwhile, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) announced that it had already moved its headquarters from the center of the Gaza Strip to the south.
The IDF announcement could mean that Israeli ground forces are about to breach the Gaza Strip from the north and wish to prevent civilian casualties. It could also be a way to fake the other side and breach at another point along the border.
IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari added that “It will be possible to return to Gaza City only after a notification confirming this. Do not approach the area of the border fence with the State of Israel.”
He noted: “Residents of Gaza, move south for your personal safety and the safety of your families, and distance yourselves from the Hamas terrorists who are using you as a human shield.”
Dujarric told Axios: “Today, just before midnight local time, team leaders of the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Department of Safety and Security in Gaza were informed by their liaison officers in the Israeli military that the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours. This amounts to approximately 1.1 million people. The same order applied to all UN staff and those sheltered in UN facilities – including schools, health centers, and clinics. The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences. The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.”
Not gonna happen.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he wants to get clarification at the highest political level about Israel’s request to evacuate the population from the northern Gaza Strip, a UN source told Axios.
Israeli UN Envoy Gilad Erdan said the “UN’s response to Israel’s early warning to the residents of Gaza is shameful! For many years, the UN has turned a blind eye to the arming of Hamas and its use of the civilian population and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip as a hiding place for its weapons and murder,” Erdan said. “Now, instead of standing by Israel, whose citizens were slaughtered by Hamas terrorists and who tries to minimize harm to those not involved, it preaches to Israel. The UN should focus now on returning the hostages, condemning Hamas, and supporting Israel’s right to defend itself.”
?Time is running out.#Gaza‘s on the brink of running out of food, water, electricity & critical supplies. @WFP with @UNRWA distributed fresh bread & food to 137,000 displaced people in shelters with plans to reach 800,000+ people across #Palestine.
Here’s some context? pic.twitter.com/eg0gtOCOK0
— WFP in the Middle East & North Africa (@WFP_MENA) October 12, 2023
Finally, for seven days, massive Israeli airstrikes changed the urban landscape radically and left more than 300,000 Arabs homeless in the Gaza Strip. During the same time, some two million Gazans have been suffering from critical shortages of food, water, and fuel, as well as medical supplies. The risks are still heavy, but it can be stated that the Gaza Strip is ripe for a deadly and fierce ground invasion in search of Hamas criminals and the Gazans who cheered them on.
“Because of the excessive number of people in our schools, we fear what we have will not last 2 weeks.”
Tamara Alrifai from the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees shares with #Newsnight that preparations for displaced Palestinians may not be enough.#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/GfQuY3xe5y
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) October 10, 2023
