More than 80 people killed in 24 hours

The UN Human Rights Office has denounced the continued forced displacement of civilians in northeastern Khan Younis in compliance with an evacuation order issued by the Israeli army.

Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, has become a huge refugee camp for Palestinians fleeing Israeli bombing. First those fleeing from Gaza City (in the north) and then those displaced from the city of Rafah in the south, on the border with Egypt.

The Israeli army constantly uses this strategy of terrorizing the Palestinian population, which is complemented by its policy of ethnic cleansing and collective punishment. To this end, it systematically reports on supposedly “safe” or “humanitarian” zones where Palestinian refugees could avoid being hit by bombings. However, these zones end up being bombed again and again, while the refugees are forced to move again.

This is what happened in the Khan Younis camp, where Israel warned overnight that it was no longer safe and would be bombed.

The UN agency said Monday’s evacuation order “gave no time” for civilians to know which areas they should leave or where they should go.

Israel then unleashed multiple airstrikes, including in Bani Suheila, Al Qarara and Abasan Al Kabira, in addition to intensifying shelling in the eastern area of ​​Khan Younis, killing at least 84 Palestinians in the past 24 hours.

The agency reports that the Israeli army has issued an evacuation order for areas east of Khan Younis, including parts of the area it had unilaterally designated as a “humanitarian zone.”

Despite Al Mawasi, Khan Younis being declared a “humanitarian zone” by the Israeli military, it continues to conduct airstrikes and shelling into the area. As the UN Human Rights Office has stated previously, there is no safe place in Gaza. #Gaza #HumanRights

Read the statement…

— UN Human Rights Palestine (@OHCHR_Palestine) July 23, 2024

In its statement, OHCHR said: “Despite the evacuation order, Israeli military operations continued unabated in and around the area. The evacuation order also covered parts of the Salah al-Deen Road, which has been one of the two main vital routes for the transport and distribution of aid, raising concerns that the delivery and supply of desperately needed humanitarian assistance will be further reduced or impeded.”

The statement ends with a blunt statement: “There is no safe place in Gaza (…) the confusing mass evacuation orders issued by a side that is simultaneously increasing the intensity of its attacks against the areas from which evacuation is ordered and through which people must move put civilians in greater danger and may increase the damage they suffer.”

On Tuesday, a survey of the consequences of the genocide carried out by Israel was released: the total number of people killed by the attacks exceeds 39,000 people, of whom 16,000 were children and 10,859 were women. In addition, 500 were medical personnel, 79 were members of civil defense and 163 were journalists. Nearly 90,000 people were injured by Israel’s bombings, which included at least 166 refugee centers, as it did again on Monday in Khan Younis.