The Israeli military has ordered the immediate evacuation of an area covering about 20 percent of the central and southern city of Khan Younis, which was home to more than 111,000 people before the Israeli invasion and now includes 32 emergency shelters housing more than 141,000 people who were expelled from the northern Gaza Strip during the war.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), Israel's notice of the forced relocation was announced online on Wednesday. The Palestinians were ordered to move to the already overcrowded neighborhoods in Rafah further south.
“The extent of displacement resulting from the evacuation order is unclear,” UNOCHA said in its latest Gaza situation report.
UNOCHA also notes that the UN human rights office has received reports that Israeli forces killed at least 11 Palestinian men and injured an unconfirmed number of women and children in a residential building in Gaza City, “which may amount to a war crime.”
“Three related families took shelter in this building during the incidents. Initial witness reports circulated in the media say that the men were separated from the women and children and then shot,” UNOCHA said.
Read the full report here.
As of December 20, 56 buildings were reportedly destroyed #Gaza in one of several attacks. The death toll is rising.
“The conditions for large-scale humanitarian operations must be restored immediately.” – @antonioguterres
Flash Update #74: https://t.co/oIiu3wPIVM pic.twitter.com/MkKKrIzwrS
— OCHA oPt (Palestine) (@ochaopt) December 20, 2023