Israel orders to flee displace 100,000 people in north Gaza, UN says

Haq said those fleeing the north are in addition to the nearly 360,000 people that have left the southern city of Rafah.

“We remain deeply concerned about the lack of protection for civilians – and the lack of safety for humanitarian operations,” the UN spokesman said. Under international humanitarian law, he stressed, “civilians must be protected and have their basic needs met, whether they move or stay” and “those who leave must have enough time to do so, as well as a safe route and a safe place to go”.

Earlier, we brought you an update from the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA, which said some 20 percent of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million people have been displaced yet again in the past week due to intensified Israeli military operations.

Israeli forces pushed deep into the ruins of Gaza’s northern edge on Monday to recapture an area from Hamas, while in the south tanks and troops pushed across a highway into Rafah, leaving Palestinian civilians scrambling to find safety.

Some of the most intense fighting for weeks is raging in both the north and south. Israeli operations in Rafah, which borders Egypt, have closed a main crossing point for aid. Humanitarian groups say this has worsened an already dire situation.

Hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing again. Around half of Gaza’s population took sanctuary there after Israel ordered evacuations from northern Gaza in October.

Gaza’s health authority appealed for international pressure to reopen access via the southern border to allow in aid, medical supplies and fuel to power generators and ambulances.

“The wounded and sick suffer a slow death because there is no treatment and supplies and they cannot travel,” it said.

In northern Gaza’s Jabalia, a sprawling refugee camp built for displaced Palestinians 75 years ago, Israeli forces pushed into an area where they claimed to have dismantled Hamas months ago.

Residents fled along rubble-strewn streets carrying bags of belongings. Tank shells landed in the centre of the camp and health officials said they had recovered 20 bodies from overnight airstrikes.

The Palestinian death toll in the war has now surpassed 35,000, with 57 killed in the past 24 hours, according to Gaza health officials, whose figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters.