The UN office based in Palestine called on Israel not to implement its order displacement for 1.1 million people from the north of the coastal enclave ahead of an imminent ground offensive.
“Palestinian civilians including women and children are terrified, injured and traumatized. This will bring about a humanitarian tragedy that can and must be avoided,” the UN office said in a statement, while recalling that over 1,800 citizens were killed in the last eight days by Israeli air strikes.
Massive displacement puts the lives of the sick and wounded in immediate danger and could provoke a public health disaster, at a time when the health system in Gaza is on the verge of collapse.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs spoke in similar terms.
“Most people do not have access to safe drinking water after the supply stoppage (…) As a last resort, people are drinking brackish water from agricultural wells, raising serious concerns about the spread of waterborne diseases,” it warned.
Meanwhile, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) noted that hundreds of thousands of children and their families fled northern Gaza ahead of imminent larger-scale attacks.
We call for an immediate ceasefire to prevent a major ground assault on one of the most densely populated places on the planet, UNICEF stated.
“Children and families in Gaza have been left with virtually no food, water, electricity, medicine and safe access to hospitals after days of hostilities and cuts to all supply routes,” UNICEF added.
Homes and critical infrastructure are in ruins, and more than 423,000 people fled their homes.
The UN Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East also criticized the Israeli attacks and the total blockade against civilians.
“The call by Israeli forces to relocate over one million civilians living in northern Gaza within 24 hours is horrendous. This will only lead to unprecedented levels of misery and push the people of Gaza further into the abyss,” the Agency added.
The scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis is chilling, Gaza is fast becoming an inferno and is on the brink of collapse.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza was dire before these hostilities and has now seriously worsened, UN Women said.
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