KUALA LUMPUR: The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, denounced the notion of ‘safe zones’ in Gaza as false and misleading.
He expressed deep concern over the ongoing displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and noted that Israeli authorities continue to issue forced displacement orders, also referred to as “evacuation orders.”
“This is forcing people in Rafah to flee anywhere and everywhere.
“Since the war began (Oct 7), most people in Gaza have moved multiple times: on average once a month and “desperately sought safety that they never found”.
“The claim of “safe zones” is false and misleading. No place is safe in Gaza. Period,“ he wrote on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
He added that some people have no choice but to stay in bombed out UNRWA shelters.
Meanwhile, posted on ‘X’ UNRWA estimates around 300,000 people have now fled Rafah, as the forced and inhumane displacement of Palestinians continues, over the last week.
Israel has waged an unrelenting offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct 7, 2023, and killed nearly 35,000 Palestinian.
Seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85 per cent of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the United Nations.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
