UN warns there is no safe place in Gaza
(Baonghean.vn)- A United Nations official warned that Palestinians in Gaza have almost no place to take shelter as the Israeli army continues to attack the area after the ceasefire agreement with Hamas ended.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is shifting its focus to the southern part of Gaza and urging residents to evacuate. However, Palestinians and human rights groups have condemned the move after the area was initially declared a safe zone when Israel launched retaliatory strikes against Hamas on October 7.
“People are asking for advice on where to go for safety,” said Thomas White, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip. “We have nothing to tell them.” According to media reports, heavy fighting broke out near the largest city in southern Gaza, Khan Younis, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Egyptian border crossing at Rafah. The IDF warned Gazans that some areas north and east of Khan Younis were “extremely dangerous,” and directed them to the Rafah refugee camp.
Mr White fears the humanitarian situation is “getting worse by the hour” as the wave of refugees continues, with roads leading to the border “clogged with cars and donkey carts”. He added that even in Rafah “the sound of airstrikes is heard every day”. The UN official said that Rafah, which normally has a population of around 280,000, “will not be able to cope” with the influx as it currently hosts around 470,000 displaced people. In response to the escalation, Russian presidential aide for international affairs Yuri Ushakov said Russia wanted a lasting ceasefire in the conflict and a full exchange of prisoners and detainees.
“The important thing now is to reach a permanent ceasefire, because short-term ceasefires are of course useful, but we would like to reach a permanent ceasefire, a complete exchange of prisoners and detainees, and then, in this calmer situation, some real work can begin in the context of the prospects for resolving the conflict,” Ushakov told reporters when asked whether Russia was considering the possibility of presenting a peace plan or whether it was interested in Middle Eastern countries resolving the conflict. Ushakov stressed that Russia’s principled position had been made clear. “And, of course, the countries we visited are located right in the region, they have an even better sense of how the situation is developing than we do, so for us it would be extremely useful to exchange views on this conflict,” Ushakov said./.
