GENEVA: Following the latest evacuation order issued by Israel’s army, an estimated 250,000 Palestinians in parts of southern Gaza have been badly affected, according to estimates by the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees. Israeli forces carried out deadly strikes on Tuesday on southern Gaza after issuing an evacuation order.
UNRWA spokeswoman Louise Wateridge, speaking from Gaza via video-link to reporters in Geneva on Tuesday, highlighted the impact of the recent evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military. The orders specifically targeted areas in eastern Khan Younis and Rafah, prompting a mass exodus of Palestinian residents who left their residences without packing their belongings due to fear of Israeli attack.
“We have observed families starting to leave the affected areas,” Wateridge stated. He emphasized that the number of affected Palestinians could increase further in the coming days.
The 250,000 number was UNRWA’s estimate for the people in the area of new evacuation orders in eastern Khan Yunis, Wateridge told AFP.
“We expect that almost all of these people will move from this area,” she said, adding that the agency hoped to get a better idea later Tuesday of the numbers who have physically left.
In response to the evacuation order, some residents were seen leaving eastern Khan Younis on foot, by vehicle, or using carts pulled by horses or donkeys, carrying their possessions with them.
Monday’s evacuation order followed a mass exodus from large parts of Rafah that began with a similar order nearly two months ago, which signaled the start of a long-feared Israeli ground offensive.
The Israeli bombardment since then has again uprooted many Palestinians and led to the closure of a key aid crossing. “This is another devastating blow to the humanitarian response here,” Wateridge said.
“It’s another devastating blow for the people and the families on the ground. It seems that they are forcibly being displaced again, and again.”
She pointed out that following the start of the Rafah incursion in May, people had flooded back into the largely destroyed Khan Younis area.
“And now already, because of the orders last night, the same families are having to move again,” she said. “There is absolutely no safe place in the Gaza Strip.”
Since October 7 last year, Israel has launched a relentless bombardment campaign in Gaza killing at least 37,925 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to data from the health ministry in the besieged territory.
Witnesses reported intense Israeli bombing and shelling around Khan Younis, southern Gaza’s main city.
A hospital source in the city said shelling killed eight people and wounded more than 30 others.
Months of on-and-off talks towards a ceasefire and hostage release deal have made little progress, even after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared more than a week ago that the “intense phase” of the war was winding down.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that “we have heard the Israelis talk about a significant downshift in their operations in Gaza”. “It remains to be seen.”
