United Nations, Dec 4 (EFE) – The United Nations humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, Lynn Hastings, on Monday criticized Israel for announcing safe zones in the Gaza Strip without guaranteeing “that people will be able to move freely and that assistance can be delivered where there is need.”
“These zones cannot be safe nor humanitarian when unilaterally declared,” Hastings said in a statement, calling Israel’s announcement of safe zones and tent cities under these conditions “alarming.”
On Friday, the Israeli Defense Forces published a map dividing Gaza into hundreds of sectors with the aim of ordering targeted evacuations of civilians as part of a resumption of its air, land and sea offensive on the Palestinian enclave.
Israel and Hamas resumed crossfire last week after a seven-day truce that saw the release of 105 hostages in Gaza and 240 Palestinians detained in Israel, as well as the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
In her statement, Hastings said the ceasefire “brought respite to everyone” as “hostages were reunited with their families and desperately needed aid went into Gaza.”
“We need more of this; all hostages released and considerably more aid and protection for Palestinian civilians,” said the Canadian diplomat, whose visa will not be renewed by Israeli authorities beyond this month after Israel accused her of siding with Hamas, a UN spokesman confirmed last week.
Meanwhile, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) warned on Monday that Israeli shelling and new evacuation orders were forcing Palestinians to “concentrate into what is less than one-third of the Gaza Strip,” where nearly 1.8 million people have been displaced since the war began.
“Claims that the UN has thousands of tents and plans to open new refugee camps in Rafah are false. We have said it repeatedly. We are saying it again. No place is safe in Gaza, whether in the south, or the southwest, whether in Rafah or in any unilaterally so-called ‘safe zone,'” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement.EFE
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