Israeli evacuation order of 1.1 million in northern Gaza will cause chaos and calamity, humanitarian workers say

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Humanitarian workers are warning that Israel’s evacuation order in northern Gaza will cause panic and chaos, with potentially devastating consequences for more than a million people.

The Israeli army confirmed on Friday that it had told the residents of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, to move to southern Gaza “for their own safety and protection.” It said “military operations” will take place in Gaza City and its residents will not be permitted to return until a future announcement.

Israeli air strikes have been hitting Gaza since last Saturday when Hamas militants killed more than 1,300 people in southern Israel, and there are widespread expectations of an Israeli ground operation to occupy all or part of Gaza.

The United Nations said the Israeli order had provided only 24 hours for the complete evacuation of about 1.1 million people – nearly half of the 2.3 million population of the Gaza Strip. The same order also applied to UN officials and the thousands of people sheltering in UN schools, shelters and clinics, it said.

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The UN believes that this massive evacuation is impossible “without devastating humanitarian consequences,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement on Friday.

He said the UN is appealing for the evacuation order to be rescinded. Otherwise, it could “transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation,” he said.

Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, which provides shelter and water services in Gaza, said the Israeli evacuation order is an outrage. “The panic, chaos and trauma caused by the Israeli ultimatum to a million civilians is limitless, according to our colleagues on the ground who have to flee themselves,” Mr. Egeland said in a social media post.

“All who can influence Israel must push for this madness to stop and the order to evacuate reversed,” he said. The Israeli military order, without any guarantees of safety or return, would be “collective punishment” of civilians and “would amount to the war crime of forcible transfer,” he said.

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, a spokesperson for the Israeli Defence Forces, told a media briefing on Friday that Hamas militants are using Gaza’s civilians as a human shield. Asked repeatedly about the 24-hour deadline, he refused to confirm the exact deadline. “We understand it will take time,” he told the briefing.

As much as possible, the Israeli military will try to help civilians to move safely, but it is “a war zone,” he said.

He alleged that Hamas was erecting roadblocks and other barriers to prevent civilians from leaving northern Gaza. “Hamas is hiding behind the people of Gaza,” he said.

Hamas, meanwhile, told the residents of Gaza to stay in their homes, even as Israel dropped leaflets on Gaza to announce the evacuation order. The military evacuation order was “fake propaganda” and “psychological warfare” by Israeli authorities, Hamas said on Friday.

Fears of a humanitarian disaster in Gaza are rapidly mounting. Israel has blockaded the small territory, preventing the entry of food, fuel, water and medicine. The World Health Organization warned on Thursday that the health system in Gaza is “at a breaking point” and is rapidly exhausting its final supplies of fuel and medicine.

“Time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe if fuel and life-saving health and humanitarian supplies cannot be urgently delivered to the Gaza Strip amidst the complete blockade,” the WHO said in a statement.

“Hospitals have only a few hours of electricity each day as they are forced to ration depleting fuel reserves and rely on generators to sustain the most critical functions,” it said.

“Even these functions will have to cease in a few days, when fuel stocks are due to run out. The impact would be devastating for the most vulnerable patients, including the injured who need lifesaving surgery, patients in intensive care units, and newborns depending on care in incubators.”

Since last Saturday, the WHO has documented 34 attacks on health facilities in Gaza, causing the deaths of 11 health workers on duty and 16 injuries. Nineteen health facilities and 20 ambulances have been damaged in the attacks, it said.

Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, or MSF), which has more than 300 staff working in Gaza, said it is horrified by both the Hamas attacks and the Israeli air strikes.

“The fighter jets are demolishing entire streets block by block,” said Matthias Kennes, the MSF head of mission in Gaza.

“There is no place to hide, no time to rest. Some places are being bombed on consecutive nights. What can people do? Where are they supposed to go?”

Millions of men, women and children are facing “total siege, indiscriminate bombing and the pending threat of a ground battle,” he said in a statement.

“Following 16 years of military blockade on the Gaza strip, the medical structures within are already weakened; this siege leaves no respite for patients caught up in the fighting, nor for medical staff. It represents an intentional block on life-saving items.”