The UN humanitarian affairs coordinator for the Palestinian territories warned Thursday that “no place is safe in Gaza” due to Israeli bombings carried out since the start of the war with Hamas on October 7.
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The coordinator, Lynn Hastings, said in a statement that the “advance warnings” issued by the Israeli army to populations to evacuate areas it intends to target “make no difference”.
“No place is safe in Gaza.”
The Israeli army “continues to warn residents of Gaza City that those who stay at home are putting themselves in danger,” recalls Mr. Hastings.
“In some cases, the notification (from the Israeli army, editor’s note) encourages people to go to a humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi”, located west of the town of Khan Younes, in the south of the strip from Gaza.
But “the United Nations intends to provide aid where the people in need are,” she assured.
The Israeli army, through its Arabic-speaking spokespersons, has repeatedly ordered residents of Gaza City to leave it for “the humanitarian zone in the Al-Mawasi area, to which humanitarian aid will be directed if necessary”.
“For people who cannot evacuate – because they have nowhere to go or are unable to move – advance warnings make no difference,” Hastings stressed.
“When evacuation routes are bombed, when people in both the north and south are caught up in hostilities, when the essentials for survival are lacking, and when there is no guarantee of return, people do not are left with impossible choices,” she added.
She recalled that “the conduct of armed conflicts, wherever it may be, is governed by international humanitarian law. This means that civilians must be protected and provided with the essentials for their survival, wherever they are and whether they choose to move or stay.”
“It also means that the hostages – all the hostages – must be released, immediately and unconditionally,” she said.
More than 200 people were kidnapped in Israel during a bloody attack by Hamas on Israeli territory on October 7.
This attack left more than 1,400 dead in Israel, according to the authorities, and more than 6,500 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip in strikes carried out since in retaliation by the Israeli army, according to the Hamas government in power in the territory.