The United Nations has announced that it will not participate in the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, stressing that there is no safe place to go in the territory where the Israeli military offensive is ongoing.
UN spokesman Stefan Dizarik responded to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request that the army prepare a plan to evacuate around 1.5 million Palestinian civilians, who fled the conflict to Rafah in southern Gaza, in order to continue the operation against Hamas and reports that from that world organization requested help.
Dizarik said last night that the majority of Palestinians in the south of Gaza cannot be sent back to the northern and central areas, which are full of unexploded mines, where apartments are destroyed and the humanitarian situation is extremely difficult due to minimal deliveries of food and other necessities.
He added that the cooperation with the Israeli authorities is “weak”.
Israeli government spokesman Aylon Levi accused UN agencies of being more concerned with pressuring Israel to end the war with Hamas and resisting efforts to vacate Hamas strongholds, in accordance with obligations under international law, and that such measures amount to forced displacement.
“We appeal to UN agencies to cooperate with Israeli efforts to protect civilians from Hamas and evacuate them from the war zone where terrorists are trying to use them as human shields. Don’t say it can’t be done. Work with us to find a way,” he said. Levy.
Later, when asked by AP, Levi said that Israel is not asking the UN for help in evacuating Rafah, but in protecting the Palestinians “instead of helping Hamas.”
Dižarik emphasized that “there is no place that is currently safe in Gaza” and that the UN wants to ensure that “everything that happens is done with full respect for international law, full respect for the protection of civilians”, and that the UN will not participate in the forced displacement of people.
