Serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza, UN & other agencies pledge support

A convoy of United Nations vehicles was seen driving in Gaza City towards southern Gaza area on October 13, as Israel calls for all civilians to leave Gaza City.

Israel’s military on Friday called for all civilians of Gaza City, more than 1 million people, to relocate south within 24 hours, as it amassed tanks near the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground invasion.

The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said it relocated its central operations center and international staff to Gaza’s south to continue its humanitarian operations and support its staff and Palestinian refugees.

The United Nations said Israel’s military informed it late on Thursday that 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza should relocate to the enclave’s south within the next 24 hours, in what Palestinians fear could be a precursor to a planned Israeli ground offensive following a deadly Hamas militant attack.

U.N. officials in Gaza “were informed by their liaison officers in the Israeli military that the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement in New York.

Dujarric said the U.N. “considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences.”

The blockaded Gaza Strip still has some fuel to operate generators such as those in hospitals but it could run out in hours, a Red Cross official said on Thursday (October 12), saying it is too unsafe to move stored aid around the enclave.

Fabrizio Carboni, the International Committee of the Red Cross (IRCRC) regional director, told reporters that there is still fuel in Gaza, “but probably only for a few hours.”

Carboni said in a later interview that its stocks of aid and medicine within Gaza are stranded for want of safe passage.

Talks are ongoing with all parties, including Egypt, to open a humanitarian corridor, with the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt’s Sinai peninsula the main option being considered, he said.

Asked whether the ICRC was preparing for this scenario, Carboni said: “We are preparing, yes, for the worst. Now the worst in the region has no limits so it’s difficult.”

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday also urged protection for children during the ongoing Palestine-Israel conflict.

Speaking at a press conference, UNICEF spokesman James Elder called on all parties concerned to refrain from attacking civilian infrastructure, including schools, health centers and shelters.