UN official says 'no place is safe' in Gaza after Israeli evacuation order

An official at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) confirmed on Saturday that the Israeli army on Friday issued an order to residents of an area in the central Gaza Strip to move to places witnessing air strikes.

On Friday, the Israeli army published in Arabic a leaflet in which it asked residents of the Bureij camp and several neighborhoods to "leave immediately for their safety" towards Deir al-Balah.

It said in the order, "For your safety, you must move immediately to shelters in Deir al-Balah" in the center of the Gaza Strip.

"People in Gaza are human beings, not pieces on a chessboard -- many of whom have been displaced multiple times," UNRWA Director of Affairs in Gaza, Thomas White, wrote on X.

He stressed that "the Israeli army orders people to move to areas witnessing air strikes, and there is no safe place and nowhere to go."

UNRWA says the latest evacuation order includes "more than 150,000 people."

Thus, thousands of Palestinians find themselves forced to flee again during the war, carrying their simple belongings after the Israeli army issued an order to evacuate areas in the central Gaza Strip.

Displaced people carried bags, belongings, and blankets on a cart, while others placed sleeping mats on one of the cars.

AFP