A U.N. spokesman said such a movement would turn “what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.”

Israel’s military has informed the United Nations that the entire population of northern Gaza should relocate to the southern half of the territory within 24 hours, the U.N. spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said late on Thursday night, adding that such a movement — involving over one million people — would lead to “devastating humanitarian consequences.”

“The same order applied to all U.N. staff and those sheltered in U.N. facilities — including schools, health centers and clinics,” Mr. Dujarric said.

The U.N. was told that the marker dividing the north from south was Wadi Gaza, the statement said.

The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting on Friday afternoon in a closed consultation format

  • @FourPacketsOfPeanutsEnglish
    2•1 year ago

    What would be the point of this from a non fucked up standpoint?

    I think the bad and good reasons can be true at the same time. Plenty of others list the bad reasons. For the good reasons:

    • it is unlikely Hamas could evacuate its weaponry, rocket stockpiles and other supplies in 24 hours undetected
    • so some will be flushed out at which point they can be engaged
    • others will remain, so having the civilian population leave - even if not completely - it’s the best way to reduce collateral deaths and give Hamas as little time to prepare as possible
    • hostages area likely being held in the north, hence the time pressure to separate as many civilians as possible and isolate Hamas
    • the crisis would be less of a crisis of the Arab nations actually stepped up to help but none of them want anything to do with Gaza Palestinians…
    • finally (up to you if this is a good or bad reason) Israel may well intend to bulldoze every building in North Gaza to deny its use to Hamas and it’s obviously safer for the population to not be there when it happens. This may increase the chances of the UN / Egypt creating a viable refugee camp inside the Egyptian border which may well be Israel’s end game