Tel Aviv orders evacuation of Deir Balah, where the agency’s operations center is located // There is nowhere to go… we are destined to diesays displaced Palestinian
▲ Palestinians leave Al Aqsa hospital in Deir Balah, where they were taking refuge from Israeli bombings.Afp Photo
Andy Gregory
The Independent
The newspaper La Jornada
Tuesday, August 27, 2024, p. 29
Tel Aviv, Israel – The United Nations has been forced to halt its humanitarian aid operations in Gaza, a senior official has warned, after Israel issued new evacuation orders for the city of Deir Balah.
As the latest round of high-level talks for a ceasefire in the 10-month war – sparked by Hamas’s incursion into Israel on October 7 – ended on Sunday without a final agreement, Israel issued a further evacuation order in part of Deir Balah that it says is now considered a dangerous combat zone.
City officials say 250,000 people have been displaced there in recent weeks; many families have been forced to sleep rough on roads and the nearby beach, and the UN has warned of an 85 percent drop in water supplies because only three of the city’s 18 wells remain operational.
And a senior official in the organisation, speaking anonymously to Reuters yesterday, warned: This morning we stopped operating in Gaza in the distribution of humanitarian aid, because “we cannot make deliveries under the conditions we are in.
We will not leave (Gaza) because people need us therethe official said, adding that staff on the ground have been instructed to try to find a way to continue operating.
We try to balance the needs of the population with the security needs of UN personnel.he added.
The organization had previously relocated its operations center in the Strip and most of its staff to Deir Balah, he said, after Tel Aviv ordered the evacuation of Rafah. Where do we go now?the official asked. The space to operate is becoming increasingly restricted.
A Palestinian woman said she and her children have been displaced 11 times.
“I left half of my children behind, and now I am here with the youngest and my daughter. Only God can help us… I don’t have money for transportation; I will go to zone 17, where my family is staying with me. I took my children and three are staying. I have no idea where,” she added.
The new orders have forced many families and patients to leave Al-Aqsa Hospital, the main medical facility in central Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of residents and displaced people have sought refuge, for fear of shelling. While Israel has informed health officials that no evacuation is required, the hospital is in the area covered by the evacuation notice, and people could be seen leaving the hospital and nearby areas yesterday, some carrying patients on stretchers or carrying sick children.
We are destined to dieFatima Attar told the AP agency as she left the hospital grounds. There is nowhere to go. Nowhere safe..
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said an explosion about 250 metres from the hospital on Sunday accelerated the exodus.
MSF is therefore considering whether to suspend care for the wounded for the time being, while trying to maintain life-saving treatment.the philanthropic organization reported.
The hospital said it was treating more than 600 patients before the evacuation order. As of yesterday, there were only about 100 left, including seven in intensive care and eight in the children’s ward.
As the Israeli offensive continues, a U.S. official said high-level talks on a ceasefire and an agreement for the return of hostages seized on Oct. 7 ended in Cairo without a final deal after four days. However, talks will continue at lower levels in the coming days in an effort to iron out differences.
A senior US official said the talks were constructivebut Hamas official Osama Hamdan said the comment was false and aimed at promoting voting in the upcoming presidential election. Hamas said it rejected new conditions imposed by Israel during the talks.
The war with Hezbollah
Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah exchanged heavy fire early Sunday but refrained from igniting a feared open war, signaling that their most intense hostilities in months had come to an end.
Hezbollah claimed to have hit an Israeli intelligence center near Tel Aviv as part of a barrage of hundreds of rockets and drones, while Israel maintained that its dozens of shots had been preemptive, to avoid a larger attack. Neither side offered evidence.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the attack, a response to Israel’s killing of a top military commander in Beirut last month, had been delayed to allow time for ceasefire talks in Gaza so that associated groups backed by Iran could discuss with Tehran whether to attack Israel all at once.
He added that Hezbollah reserves the right to respond at a later time if the results of Sunday’s attack are not enough. He added that his Houthi allies in Yemen – and Iran itself – have not yet responded. But he said in a message to the Lebanese people: At the current stage, the country can take a breath and relax..
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his military had eliminated dozens of rockets aimed at northern Israel and shot down three drones heading toward the center of the country, adding: I repeat: this is not the end of the story..
David Mencer, spokesman for the Israeli government, said Hezbollah had suffered a devastating blow with the Israeli attacks, and warned that the current situation of tens of thousands of Israelis evicted from their homes It is not sustainableHe promised that Israel would return its population to its sovereign territory.
With information from agencies
© The Independent
Translation: Jorge Anaya