International Desk: The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has condemned Israel’s relocation order against over one million people of Palestinians in northern Gaza Bank, calling it “extremely dangerous” and “a violation of international law” and “simply not possible”,
UN officials in Gaza on Thursday were informed by their liaison officers in the Israeli military that the entire population of northern Gaza, approximately 1.1 million, should relocate to the southern part within the next 24 hours.
The same order applied to all UN staff and those sheltered in UN facilities – including schools, health centres and clinics. Moving more than one million people across a densely populated warzone to a place with no food, water, or accommodation, when the entire territory is under siege, is extremely dangerous and in some cases, simply not possible, Guterres told reporters here on Friday. The UN Secretary-General made those remarks before heading to a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East.
He said that after days of airstrikes, the Israeli Defense Forces have ordered the Palestinians in Gaza and its surroundings to move to the south of the territory. Voicing his deep concern, the UN chief said that the hospitals in the south of Gaza are already at capacity and will not be able to accept thousands of new patients from the north. The health system is also on the ”brink of collapse and morgues are overflowing, he said. Guterres said 11 healthcare staff have been killed while on duty and there have been 34 attacks on health facilities in the past few days.
Describing the situation in Gaza as reaching a dangerous new low, he said the entire territory faces a water crisis as infrastructure has been damaged and there is no electricity to power pumps and desalination plants. Asserting that even wars have rules, Guterres said there is an immediate need for humanitarian access throughout Gaza for the UN to ”get fuel, food and water to everyone in need.” ”International humanitarian law and human rights law must be respected and upheld; civilians must be protected and never used as shields.
All hostages in Gaza must be released immediately, he said. Guterres underscored that it is imperative that all parties and those with influence over them do everything possible to achieve these steps. The ”horrific terror attacks by Hamas on Israel killed more than 1,200 people and injured thousands more last Saturday.