In a message posted on his account on
“85 percent of the people in Gaza are already internally displaced.” They have the right to return to their homeland. “International law prohibits the forcible transfer or deportation of protected persons within occupied territory,” he added.
Several governments also condemned this Thursday the statements of far-right Israeli officials who called for the resettlement of Gazans outside the Gaza Strip.
Saudi Arabia and other European nations rejected comments from National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich who described Israel's war with Hamas as an opportunity to encourage Palestinian migration from the enclave.
For its part, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that it had been unable to provide necessary assistance to civilians outside the central areas and in the north over the past three days.
Delays and denials from Israeli authorities, as well as the active conflict, are preventing distribution beyond Wadi Gaza, OCHA warned in its latest update.
This prevented the delivery of life-sustaining medications to more than 100,000 people for 30 days, as well as the delivery of eight trucks of food to those experiencing catastrophic and life-threatening food insecurity, the office added.
“The security, access, transport and de-escalation situation remains extremely difficult, particularly for hospitals in the northern governorates,” the report said.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees announced it would implement a rapid vaccination plan. The initiative, together with the United Nations Children's Fund, the World Health Organization and other partners, will enable the delivery of more than 960,000 doses of essential vaccines to the Gaza Strip to immunize against diseases such as measles, pneumonia and poliomyelitis.
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