In Khan Younis, the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) reported witnessing “thousands of people fleeing” westwards as part of the exodus from the enclave’s southern city amid ongoing hostilities, leaving children traumatized and crying uncontrollably.
“Elderly people on the back of donkey carts…disabled people being pushed in wheelchairs through the sand with the belongings piled up on top of their lap,” said Louise Wateridge, UNRWA Senior Communications Officer. “People running, hearing gunfire [and] running for their lives. Families are really only carrying what they can hold in their hands…People do not know where to go. That is the main question people are asking today, ‘Where do I go?’”
Al Mawasi shrunk
Israel’s evacuation orders have impacted about 8.7 square kilometres of land in the so-called “humanitarian zone” of Al Mawasi, which lies on the coast near Khan Younis, reducing the size of the zone by nearly 15 per cent, according to the UN aid coordination office, OCHA.
“Initial reports indicate that families are currently moving towards areas in Deir al Balah and western Khan Younis,” OCHA said. “Both areas are already heavily overcrowded, have limited shelters and services available and can barely accommodate the additional influx of displaced people.
As of 22 July, nearly 83 per cent of the Gaza Strip has been placed under evacuation orders or designated as “no-go zones” by the Israeli military.
UN rights office condemnation
Condemning the “repeated” evacuation orders, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, insisted that the Israeli military had given “no time” for civilians to understand where they were expected to leave or where they should go.
At least 70 Palestinians, including women and children were killed amid ongoing violence on Monday, the UN rights office said, citing the local health authorities. At least 200 others were also injured, some critically, amid reports of intensifying Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis since Sunday, with “multiple” strikes on Monday and an “intensification” of shelling in the east of the city.
“Israeli military operations continued in and around the area unabated,” OHCHR said, noting that the evacuation order covered parts of Salah al-Deen Road – “one of two main routes vital for the transport and distribution of aid, raising concerns that delivery and provision of desperately needed humanitarian assistance will be further reduced or prevented”.