UN warns against Israeli evacuation orders in Deir al Balah
NEW YORK (WAM) An Israeli military order for residents and displaced people in Gaza's Deir al Balah area to move south dealt 'another devastating blow' to humanitarian efforts in the war-ravaged territory, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Sunday.OCHA warned that Sunday'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 order covers about 5.6 square kilometres of Deir al Balah, spanning four neighbourhoods.Initial estimates indicated that between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area at the time the order was issued, including some 30,000 people sheltering in 57 displacement sites.At least 1,000 families have fled the area in recent hours.UN staff are remaining in Deir al Balah, spread across dozens of premises. Their coordinates have been shared with the relevant parties. These locations – as with all civilian sites – must be protected, regardless of displacement orders.The newly-designated area includes several humanitarian warehouses, four primary health clinics, four medical points, and critical water infrastructure: the Southern Gaza Desalination Plant, three water wells, one water reservoir, one solid waste dumping site and one wastewater pumping station. Any damage to this infrastructure will have life-threatening consequences.The statement added, "With this latest order, the area of Gaza under displacement orders or within Israeli-militarised zones has risen to 87.8 percent, leaving 2.1 million civilians squeezed into a fragmented 12 percent of the Strip, where essential services have collapsed."
"The new order cuts through Deir al Balah all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, further splintering the Strip. It will limit the ability of the UN and our partners to move safely and effectively within Gaza, choking humanitarian access when it is needed most."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Etihad
11 minutes ago
- Al Etihad
Global Council for Tolerance and Peace commends France's intent to recognise Palestine
26 July 2025 19:53 ABU DHABI (WAM) The Global Council for Tolerance and Peace has commended the announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron regarding his country's intention to officially recognise the State of bin Mohammed Al Jarwan, President of the Global Council for Tolerance and Peace, described the move as a bold and responsible step in support of justice and truth, aimed at enhancing prospects for peace in the Middle stressed that recognising the State of Palestine is the most direct path to achieving peace and stability in the region, which would reflect positively on international peace and security. He reiterated that such recognition is a legitimate right of the Palestinian people in accordance with international law and Jarwan affirmed the Council's full support for this French initiative, considering it a positive incentive for the international community to take meaningful steps toward establishing a just and lasting peace and preserving global security and stability. The Council also called on all countries to follow suit and support efforts to uphold justice, coexistence and sustainable peace among nations, noting that justice is the cornerstone of tolerance, development and stability.
Middle East Eye
an hour ago
- Middle East Eye
Handala aid convoy now less than 185km from Gaza
The Handala boat, en route to Gaza in a bid to break Israel's blockade, is reportedly less than 185km from the besieged enclave. According to a live tracker, it has now passed the point where Israeli forces raided the previous humanitarian convoy, Madleen, in early June.
Middle East Eye
4 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Former US soldier tells BBC Israeli troops fired on civilians seeking aid
A former US Army Special Forces officer revealed that he resigned from his role at the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) after witnessing the shelling of aid-seeking civilians in the besieged enclave. Speaking to the BBC in an interview on Friday, Lieutenant-Colonel Anthony Aguilar said he had never seen such "brutality and use of indiscriminate and unnecessary force against a civilian population, an unarmed, starving population". "I've never witnessed that in all the places I've been deployed to war, until I was in Gaza at the hands of the [Israeli forces] and US contractors," he said. "Without question, I witnessed war crimes by the Israeli Defense Forces, without a doubt. Using artillery rounds, mortar rounds, firing tank rounds into unarmed civilians is a war crime." Aguilar, who is a veteran of the US Army's Green Berets, said he saw Israeli troops and US contractors firing live ammunition, artillery, mortar rounds and tank shells at starving, unarmed Palestinians awaiting aid. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters He recalled one incident in which a Merkava tank fired at civilians, destroying a car as it drove away from the aid site. Aguilar added that he witnessed mortar rounds being launched into crowds "to keep them controlled". He described those in charge of the GHF initiative as "amateur, inexperienced, and untrained", noting that they had "no idea of how to conduct operations at this magnitude". 'I witnessed war crimes.' Anthony Aguilar, a former US Green Beret, told the BBC that he witnessed Israeli forces firing artillery shells and mortar rounds into crowds of unarmed, starving Palestinian civilians at aid distribution sites in Gaza — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) July 26, 2025 More than 100 humanitarian organisations warned on Wednesday that "mass famine" has been spreading across the Gaza Strip since Israel blocked humanitarian aid from entering in early March and began providing inadequate aid through the controversial GHF at the end of May. Middle East Eye reported on Tuesday that renowned famine expert Professor Alex de Waal accused Israel of "genocidal starvation" of Palestinians in Gaza through its ongoing deadly siege on the enclave. With basic food items disappearing from markets and families going days without enough to survive, scenes of people collapsing from hunger and sheer exhaustion have become increasingly common on Gaza's streets. At least 127 Palestinians, including more than 85 children, have died of starvation since Israel's blockade resumed in March, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Meanwhile, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid at distribution sites operated by the GHF, manned by Israeli soldiers and US security contractors.
