The United Nations has been forced to halt its aid operations in Gaza due to new Israeli evacuation orders for Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, a senior UN official said.
Briefing reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York on Monday, the official said: “We cannot deliver today under the conditions we are in.”
The official noted how the UN had moved its main command operations for the Gaza Strip and the bulk of UN personnel to Deir el-Balah after Israel ordered the evacuation of Rafah in southern Gaza in May.
“Where do we move to now?” the official asked, adding that UN staff had to be moved so quickly that the equipment was left behind.
“We are not leaving [Gaza] “People need us there. We are trying to balance the needs of the population with the security needs of UN staff,” the official stressed.
Following the official's briefing, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric clarified that UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, can continue to operate because it is rooted in the population and that the issue described by the official was the transfer of aid through the Palestinian enclave.
“What we are talking about is UNRWA being present in the places,” Dujarric said. “So if they are there and they can help, they will do so and they will distribute the aid.” [But] us [other UN agencies] We can't get people from point A to point B. We can't go pick people up.”
Reporting from UN headquarters, Al Jazeera's Gabriel Elizondo said the situation has become very difficult for the UN with repeated evacuation orders from the Israeli military in central Gaza disrupting UN humanitarian aid operations.
“The senior official said they are testing their own risk assessment. The official said they have 90 staff members who have been moved to safe houses in al-Mawasi… Their 140 international staff are struggling to find houses… Some have to sleep in their cars,” Elizondo said.
“This [halt of aid] It is temporary, … but as of today, due to practical measures, they cannot do it,” Elizondo added.
Displacement of Palestinians
The Israeli military on Sunday issued its final evacuation orders for Deir el-Balah, which had previously been classified as a safe zone, and confirmed that it is expanding a ground offensive on the outskirts of Deir el-Balah.
Evacuation orders send Palestinians from their homes and places of refuge without knowing when, or if, they will be able to return.
The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) also said its food distribution centres and community kitchens in Gaza have been increasingly disrupted by the expansion of Israeli evacuation orders.
“WFP operations are severely hampered by the escalating conflict, limited number of border crossings and damaged roads. Over the past two months, amid continued catastrophic famine, WFP has had to reduce the content of food parcels in Gaza as aid flows have decreased and supplies have dwindled,” the organisation said.
UNRWA Field Director Sam Rose said the organization was still managing to deliver health and other services on Monday, but noted that while UNRWA operates differently from the rest of the U.N. system, it still faces the same challenges.
“We are being squeezed into smaller and smaller areas of Gaza,” he told reporters on Monday.
“The humanitarian zone declared by Israel has shrunk. It now represents about 11 percent of the entire Gaza Strip. But this is not 11 percent of land that is fit for habitation, fit for services, fit for life.”
Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary said evacuation orders have made living conditions miserable for everyone.
“Everyone is in a state of panic and frustration. We are talking about more than a million people in the central area and those who have been squeezed into Deir el-Balah,” he said.
“UN workers are humanitarian workers and have not received any protection. That is why they have not been able to continue their operations,” he said, adding that the suspension of aid by the UN will deeply affect the people of Gaza who need its help.
Human rights groups and international observers have criticized the evacuation orders and the massive suffering caused as a result.
Palestinians have often been attacked by Israel on the way to these “safe zones” and also after reaching their destinations.
A 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 am on the street with my six children,” Rasim al-Attab, who was sitting in the hospital courtyard with his son, told Al Jazeera.
“We were 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. They are looking for money and instead they die on the streets.”
