Latest Israeli evacuation orders halt UN aid operation in Gaza
“As of this morning, we are not operating in Gaza,” a senior U.N. official told reporters, adding that they would not be leaving the beleaguered territory.
On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces issued new evacuation orders for parts of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where the U.N. had moved its core operations in May following orders to evacuate Rafah in southern Gaza. According to the United Nations, Sunday’s evacuation order is the 16th this month.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, said the United Nations had only a few hours to move international and Palestinian staff, several hundred dependents and equipment to an area in Al-Mawasi that Israel has designated as a safe zone. Some staff are sleeping in a warehouse.
The U.N. had to leave so quickly that some equipment was left behind, the official said, and they were unable to go back for it Monday because the IDF had already moved into the area. The official said the U.N. is now looking for a safe place where they can “reset” their operations.
The U.N. estimates that about 86% of Gaza is under Israeli evacuation orders, pushing more than 2 million people into a sliver of land with few basic services.
Two officials with the U.N. agency that assists Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said Monday from central Gaza that despite the latest evacuation order, their agency is continuing to offer some health care to communities.
UNRWA will also be a key player, along with the World Health Organization, and the U.N. International Children’s Emergency Fund, or UNICEF, in a massive polio vaccination campaign due to begin Saturday that aims to reach 640,000 children in Gaza with double doses of the vaccine.
The virus was detected last month in environmental samples from Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah and at least one case has been confirmed in a 10-month-old baby — the first case in Gaza in 25 years.