Israel’s Continuous Evacuation Orders Are Creating Panic in the Gaza Strip
Israel continues to issue new evacuation orders to civilians in the Gaza Strip on a daily basis. Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), made a statement on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, expressing concern about the chaos and panic that the evacuation orders have created among the population.
“Right now, only 14 percent of the areas in Gaza are not under evacuation orders. Israeli authorities are issuing these orders day after day, forcing people to flee and creating chaos and panic,” Lazzarini said.
Lazzarini said that due to the constant eviction orders, Palestinians who are often displaced have only a few hours to gather what they can and start over, explaining that Palestinians usually walk to so-called safe areas.
“One person recently told our UNRWA teams that he had to flee twice in 10 hours”
Lazzarini said that almost all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were affected by the evacuation orders. “Since the war began nine months ago, many people have been forced to flee an average of once a month. One person recently told our UNRWA teams that he had been forced to flee twice in 10 hours. People continue to seek safety,” he said.
Emphasizing that these evacuation orders only bring more misery, fear and suffering for people who have nothing to do with this war, Lazzarini said, “The people of Gaza are not Pinball or chess pieces, they are human beings.”
