UN says israeli actions have led to the displacement of 90% of Gaza’s population, with 250,000 people displaced just in the month of August
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that this month, the Israeli military has compelled 250,000 displaced Palestinians to relocate once more and vacate their current areas.
“According to Muhannad Hadi, Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Israeli forces issued 12 evacuation orders in August alone, averaging one every two days, displacing up to 250,000 people once again.”
The report highlighted that “the continuous mass evacuation directives from Israeli forces during the conflict have resulted in the displacement of 90 percent of Gaza’s population since October 2023, frequently forcing them to relocate multiple times. This has put them in danger and stripped them of basic survival necessities.”
The statement addressed the recent displacement of tens of thousands of civilians from four neighborhoods in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.
If evacuation orders are intended to safeguard civilians, “the reality is that they are having the opposite effect.”
The evacuation directives are compelling families to escape once more, frequently amid gunfire and with only the possessions they can manage to transport. They are moving into increasingly confined spaces that are overcrowded, contaminated, lack adequate services, and, like the entirety of Gaza, remain perilous.
“Civilians, drained and fearful, are fleeing from one devastated area to the next, with no end in sight.”
“This situation cannot go on,” Hadi emphasized, underlining the importance of adhering to international humanitarian law.
The announcement was made after Gaza’s Government Media Office reported that the Israeli regime is compressing 1.7 million Palestinian civilians into merely one-tenth of Gaza’s total territory, amidst its continuing genocidal conflict against the beleaguered region.
The media office reports that Israel has significantly reduced the size of the area it previously designated as the “safe humanitarian zone” in Gaza, shrinking it from 63 percent of the region in November to a mere 9.5 percent.
On October 7, Israel initiated military actions against Gaza following Hamas’s unexpected Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, which was carried out in retaliation to the long-term violent and destructive policies of the Israeli regime towards Palestinians.
The regime’s brutal assault on Gaza has resulted in the deaths of over 40,265 Palestinians, predominantly women and children, and has left 93,144 others injured. Additionally, thousands remain unaccounted for and are feared to be buried beneath the debris.
