80% of Gazans now displaced: UN humanitarian coordinator
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Sigrid Kaag addressed the UN Security Council warning that "Over 1 million people have been displaced once again, desperately seeking shelter and safety.
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Palestinians crowd a street in Rafah in southern Gaza, where most have been displaced as Israeli forces broaden their aggression, undated (AFP)
According to the UN humanitarian coordinator for Gaza, 1.9 million Palestinians, or 80% of the territory's population, have been displaced, citing "deep concern" about further evacuation orders for Khan Younis.
Earlier today, Palestinians who had been forcefully displaced to the second-largest city in the Gaza Strip, Khan Younis, and those residing there, were ordered to "evacuate", once again, as the Israeli occupation forces continue to show that nowhere in the Gaza Strip is safe.
The forced displacement order came for the eastern half of Khan Younis and a large swath of the Gaza Strip’s south-eastern corner as they were directed to meet displaced Palestinians from Rafah in the al-Mawasi region.
Palestinians in Khan Younis also reportedly received audio messages from Israeli occupation phone numbers ordering them to leave their homes. "We received a message on our mobile phones" to evacuate, said Zeinab Abu Jazar who had been displaced to Khan Younis earlier in the war.
Up to 250,000 Palestinians affected
The order to evacuate affects up to 250,000 people, according to the UN.
Sigrid Kaag addressed the UN Security Council warning that "Over 1 million people have been displaced once again, desperately seeking shelter and safety (and) 1.9 million people are now displaced across Gaza... I'm deeply concerned about reports of new evacuation orders issued in the area of Khan Yunis."
Kaag explained that Palestinians in Gaza have been "plunged into an abyss of suffering" having their lives shattered.
"The war has not merely created the most profound of humanitarian crises. It has unleashed a maelstrom of human misery," the coordinator added.
She stated that little help was reaching the war-torn strip and that the opening of new crossings, notably to southern Gaza, was required to avoid a humanitarian tragedy.
Kaag called for the reopening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, as well as increased funding for humanitarian operations from the international community, stating that aid has "dropped significantly" since the onslaught in Rafah by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) began.
According to the spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, the order will apply to a third of the Gaza Strip, explaining that "An evacuation of such a massive scale will only heighten the suffering of civilians."
Tragic conditions among displaced, eight martyrs in Rafah, Khan Younis
Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Gaza confirmed on Tuesday morning the arrival of the bodies of eight martyrs and several wounded at al-Nasser Hospital, following intense airstrikes in eastern Rafah and Khan Younis.
The correspondent reported that multiple casualties were recorded in Abasan and Khuza'a in Khan Younis, highlighting that rescue teams were unable to reach the injured. He further noted that hospitals in Khan Younis were overwhelmed and unable to accommodate more casualties, emphasizing the dire conditions of the displaced in Khan Younis, where many children slept outdoors.
Additionally, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that this morning the occupation renewed its raids on the north of the Nuseirat camp and the areas surrounding Netzarim, as well as on Tell al-Hawa southwest of Gaza City. Intensive artillery and airstrikes have also targeted the Nuseirat over the past hours.
Meanwhile, fierce confrontations persisted between the Resistance and the occupation in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood east of Gaza City. Our correspondent confirmed that dozens of families are besieged by the occupation in the neighborhood.
At dawn, occupation aircraft conducted a raid on the Shuja'iyya neighborhood, accompanied by continuous artillery shelling. Simultaneously, a series of raids targeted the town of Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis.
