UN regrets that it is running out of “safe spaces” in Gaza after evacuation orders

Today’s latest news on the attacks between Israel and Lebanon

Aug. 27 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The latest evacuation orders issued by the Israeli army for several areas of the Gaza Strip have caused UN staff to run out of “safe spaces” at a “time that could not be worse” given the imminent start of a mass vaccination campaign against polio.

This is the warning issued by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Security Affairs, Gilles Michaud, who has stressed the organisation’s commitment to the Gazan population and at the same time has acknowledged that there are things that are beyond its “control”.

“These mass evacuation orders are the latest in a long list of intolerable threats to UN and humanitarian workers,” he said in a statement, citing the example of the weekend evacuations of Deir el-Bala which forced 200 UN workers to leave their offices and homes within a matter of “just a few hours.”

Michaud said the Israeli guidelines “seriously” affect the UN’s ability to continue providing aid and recalled that it is up to the parties to the conflict to ensure that this work continues, as dictated by international law.

“Women and men who risk their lives to deliver humanitarian aid need a safe and consistent place to work,” he added.