The United Nations has been forced to halt its aid operation in Gaza due to new Israeli evacuation orders for Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, a senior UN official said.
“In the circumstances we are in today, we are unable to do anything,” the official said while briefing reporters at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday.
The official described how the UN moved its main command operations for the Gaza Strip and most UN personnel to Deir al-Balah following Israel’s order to evacuate Rafah in southern Gaza in May.
“Where do we go now?” the official asked, adding that UN staff had to be moved so quickly that equipment was left behind.
“We are not going [Gaza] Because people need us. We are trying to balance the needs of the population and the need to protect UN personnel,” the official stressed.
Speaking after the official’s briefing, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric clarified that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, is able to continue its work because it is embedded among the population and that the issue described by the official is the transfer of aid into the Palestinian enclaves.
“What we are talking about is to get UNRWA involved in place,” Dujarric said. “So if they are there and they are able to help, they will help and deliver. [But] We [other UN agencies] We’re not able to move people from point A to point B. We’re not able to find people.”
Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from UN headquarters, said the situation in central Gaza has become very difficult for the UN because of the Israeli military’s repeated evacuation orders, which are affecting UN humanitarian aid operations.
“The top official said they are pushing the limits of their risk assessment. The official said they have 90 employees who have been moved to safe houses in Al-Mawasi. … Their 140 international employees are struggling to find homes. … Some are having to sleep in their cars,” Elizondo said.
“it [halt of aid] It’s temporary, … but right now they can’t do it because of practical measures,” Elizondo said.
Displacement of Palestinians
The Israeli military on Sunday issued the latest evacuation orders for Deir al-Balah, which was previously classified as a safe zone, and confirmed it was expanding a ground offensive on the outskirts of Deir al-Balah.
Evacuation orders have driven Palestinians from their homes and shelters with no information on when or if they will be able to return.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) also said its food distribution centres and community kitchens in Gaza were being disrupted by Israel’s increasing evacuation orders.
“WFP’s operations are being severely hampered by the escalation of the conflict, the limited number of border crossings and damaged roads. Over the past two months, amid persistent catastrophic hunger, WFP has had to reduce the contents of food parcels in Gaza as the flow of aid has slowed and supplies have run low,” the organisation said.
UNRWA’s senior regional director, Sam Rose, said the organization still managed to provide health and other services on Monday, but added that although UNRWA works differently from the rest of the UN system, it faces the same challenges.
“We are being pushed into smaller and smaller areas of Gaza,” he told reporters on Monday.
“The humanitarian zone declared by Israel has shrunk. It is now about 11 percent of the entire Gaza Strip. But it is not 11 percent of land that is suitable for habitation, services or life.”
Al Jazeera’s Hind Khudari, reporting from Deir al-Balah, said the evacuation orders had made living conditions miserable for everyone.
“Everyone is in a state of panic and desperation. We are talking about more than one million people in the central region and those trapped in Deir el-Balah,” he said.
“The UN people are humanitarian workers and there is no protection for them. So they are unable to continue their operations,” he said, adding that suspending aid by the UN would have a profound impact on the people in Gaza who need their help.
Human rights groups and international observers have condemned the evacuation orders and the widespread suffering that has resulted.
Palestinians often face attacks by Israel both while traveling to such “safe zones” and upon arriving at their destinations.
One Palestinian man said he did not know where he and his sick son would sleep in the coming days because of evacuation orders.
“On the street! Imagine. I’m on the street with my six children,” Rasim al-Attab, who was sitting in the hospital courtyard with his son, told Al Jazeera.
“We have been displaced four times – from northern Gaza, from Khan Younis, from Deir el-Balah. Nobody is looking after us,” he said.
“People want to live a normal life. People are looking for money, and instead, they die on the streets.”
