UN Gaza aid operation continuing after staff forced to evacuate

The UN has said its humanitarian aid operation in the Gaza Strip is continuing, after a senior official said it had ground to a halt on Monday due to Israeli military evacuation orders.

Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Tuesday evening that conditions “made it extremely, extremely difficult for us to do our work”, but that “we are doing what we can with what we have”.

On Sunday, UN staff had to relocate quickly after the Israeli military issued an evacuation order covering a part of the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone around the central town of Deir al-Balah, where the UN had its main operations centre.

The military said it had acted to protect civilians while operating against Hamas “terror operatives” in the area.

It also said that it was working with the UN and other international organisations to find alternative locations for them to continue their activities.

Up to 88.5% of Gaza has been placed under evacuation orders since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, according to the UN, which is the primary provider and distributor of humanitarian aid in the territory.

That has forced an estimated 1.8 million people to shelter inside the humanitarian zone, which currently spans only about 41 sq km (15.8 sq miles) and lacks critical infrastructure and basic services.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 40,500 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

On Tuesday evening, Under-Secretary-General for Safety and Security Gilles Michaud said in a statement that the UN was determined to stay in Gaza to deliver life-saving aid to Palestinian civilians. But, he noted, “like most Palestinians in Gaza, we are running out of safe spaces for our own staff”.

Mr Michaud said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had given more than 200 UN personnel a few hours’ notice on Sunday to move out of their offices and living places in a southern area of Deir al-Balah.

The UN’s humanitarian office said the order affected 15 UN and NGO premises, as well as four UN warehouses, a water desalination plant and al-Aqsa hospital, the town’s main medical facility.

World Food Programme staff were among those forced to relocate to other premises, but were able to deliver food aid on Tuesday.

“The timing could hardly be worse, with the start of a massive polio vaccination campaign scheduled for next week, for which large numbers of staff will need to enter the strip,” Mr Michaud said.

“However, the IDF’s actions this weekend compound existing security threats and seriously impact the pace at which we can deliver safely. These constraints are beyond our control.”

The UN is planning to vaccinate 640,000 children to prevent an outbreak of polio, after a 10-month-old baby who contracted the waterborne disease was left partially paralysed – the first registered case in Gaza in 25 years.

It has appealed to the warring parties to implement two seven-day humanitarian pauses in order to allow the vaccinations to be carried out successfully.

The IDF said in a statement on Wednesday that it had been forced to issue evacuation orders in and around Deir al-Balah to carry out “essential operations” against Hamas “terror operatives” and their infrastructure.

It also stressed that it was operating “in full co-ordination with the international community to preserve the activity of the international community’s vital centres, including shelters, aid depots, and residences”.

“However, in light of the cynical exploitation carried out by Hamas and other terrorist organisations, there is sometimes a need to evacuate these centres.”

The IDF said it would take action to help find alternative locations for UN agencies and NGOs to continue their activities and to provide alternative aid routes.

It also claimed the UN suspension had affected only “a specific, limited area for logistical organisation” and that activities had continued at hundreds of other locations.

Also in Deir al-Balah on Wednesday, local medics said at least eight Palestinians had been killed in an air strike near a school housing displaced people in the town.

Another 11 people were reportedly killed in strikes in the southern city of Khan Younis, where Israeli tanks were said to have advanced into the city centre.

Meanwhile, the IDF announced that forces had recovered the body of an Israeli soldier who had been abducted on 7 October and held hostage in Gaza. It did not publish his name.