UNITED NATIONS – As the Israeli military continues to carry out relentless airstrikes on the Gaza Strip following surprise attacks by Hamas, it told the United Nations late Thursday evening that the entire population in the northern Gaza Strip should be evacuated south almost immediately.
Stephane Dujarric, a UN spokesman, told CBS News that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) liaison officers informed the UN shortly before midnight local time on Thursday that the entire population north of Wadi Gaza “will move to the southern part of the Gaza Strip within the next 24 hours.” Gaza Strip should be resettled”. “
According to the UN, about 1.1. Millions of people live in the northern Gaza Strip.
The United Nations “considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences,” Dujarric said, and it “strongly calls for such an order, if confirmed, to be repealed in order to prevent that, “What is already a tragedy could be turned into a catastrophe.” Situation.”
The UN’s response “to Israel’s early warning to the residents of the Gaza Strip,” said Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan, was “shameful” and ignored the brutality of the attack on Israel.
Early Friday local time, IDF ordered hundreds of thousands of Gaza City residents to move further south in the Gaza Strip for their “own safety”.
In response, Hamas urged Palestinians to remain in their homes, according to the Associated Press.
“This is chaos, no one understands what to do,” the AP quoted Inas Hamdan, an official with the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency in Gaza City.
According to the latest United Nations figures, at least 338,000 Gazans have been displaced since Hamas invaded southern Israel on October 7, prompting retaliatory Israeli attacks on Gaza.
About 300,000 Israeli soldiers have gathered outside the Gaza Strip border. Israel Defense Forces international spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus did not specifically say Wednesday that Israel was preparing a ground attack on Gaza, but noted that troops, along with tanks, armored vehicles and other artillery, were “making preparations for the next phase of the attack.” “The Gaza Strip was hit by the war that will come when the time is right and suitable for our purposes.”
Israeli officials said Thursday that at least 1,300 people were killed and at least 2,800 others were injured in the Hamas invasion.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 1,537 Gazans were killed, including 500 children, and another 6,600 were injured in Israel’s counterattacks.
Since the Hamas invasion, Israel has imposed a complete blockade on Gaza, with no food, water, gas, medicine or electricity allowed to enter, bringing the region to the brink of a humanitarian crisis.
— Jordan Freiman contributed to this report.
Israel-Gaza conflict
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