UN warns that “massive” evacuations like that of Khan Yunis will only “increase the suffering of civilians”

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2 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United Nations warned on Tuesday that evacuations on “such a massive scale” as the one ordered the day before by the Israeli army in the city of Khan Yunis, in the south-central Gaza Strip, will only “increase civilian suffering and humanitarian needs.”

“People are faced with the impossible choice of having to relocate, many of them for the second or third time, to areas with little space or services; or staying in areas where they know there will be heavy fighting,” said UN Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric at a press conference.

Dujarric was referring to the evacuation order announced the day before by the Israeli army, which called for the evacuation of a large part of the eastern sector of the city of Khan Yunis. On Tuesday, the Israel Defense Forces launched up to twenty projectiles in the area.

According to the spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, this evacuation order is the one that has affected the largest number of Gazans since the outbreak of hostilities in early October, when the Israeli army called for the evacuation of a large part of Gaza City, in the north of the enclave.