UN: 9 out of 10 in Gazans have Been Forcibly Displaced

By Staff, Agencies

Nine out of every ten people in Gaza have been forcibly displaced during the ongoing war on the Strip, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA highlighted on Friday.

“Families seek shelter where they can: overcrowded schools, destroyed buildings, makeshift tents on the sand or amid piles of trash,” the agency posted on X, adding that “none of these places are safe. People have nowhere left to go.”

In later posts, UNRWA confirmed that type 2 polio has been detected in Gaza, citing “the lack of clean water, overcrowded shelters, and poor sanitation” as causes of the spread of such diseases.

“Amid war, lack of food and water, and spread of diseases, people in the Gaza Strip are in dire need of healthcare,” the agency underlined.

It pointed out that “only a few hospitals are still operational and the medical system is collapsing,” warning that “without safe and unimpeded access, critical medical supplies will soon run out.”

In a related context, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA mentioned on Friday that more than 180,000 Palestinians have fled fierce fighting around the southern city of Khan Yunis in four days, following a reported “Israeli” military operation to retrieve the bodies of captives from the area.

Recent “intensified hostilities” in the Khan Yunis area have fueled “new waves of internal displacement across Gaza,” OCHA indicated, highlighting that “about 182,000 people” have been displaced from central and eastern Khan Yunis between Monday and Thursday and hundreds are “stranded” in eastern Khan Yunis.

The “Israeli” occupation military on Monday ordered the evacuation of parts of the southern city, announcing its forces would “forcefully operate” there, including in an area previously declared a “safe” humanitarian zone.

The Health Ministry in Gaza said that 73 Palestinians, including 24 children and 15 women, were martyred and more than 270 were injured by “Israeli” strikes and massacres in Khan Yunis.

The staggering figures came after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as a “total disaster”, attributing this to a military campaign of a “chaotic nature” that has the highest level of slaughtering and destruction, as well as a level of humanitarian aid that is “totally out of proportion with the needs”.