UN asks Israel to “avoid a humanitarian catastrophe”

The secretary general of the UNAntonio Guterres, called on Friday Israel to “avoid a humanitarian catastrophe,” after the Israeli army ordered more than a million people to evacuate northern Loop.

”The secretary general and his team have spent time on the phone. He is in constant contact with the Israeli authorities, urging them to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe,” spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told reporters.

In a separate statement released this Friday, Guterres said that “even wars have rules. “The situation in Loop fell to a dangerous level,” he said.

In the Palestinian enclave, “the health system is on the brink of disaster,” “the morgues are overflowing,” and there is “a water crisis,” he stated.

”We need immediate humanitarian access to Gaza, so we can bring fuel, food and water to all who need it,” he said.

The UN claimed on Thursday afternoon that it had been informed by the Israeli army of an order to move around 1.1 million residents to northern Wadi Loop to the south “within 24 hours.”

“We firmly ask that this order be annulled to avoid transforming what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation,” Dujarric insisted. “Time is running out,” he warned.

Asked about the US idea of ​​creating “safe zones” in Gaza, spokesman Dujarric said: “Of course, we are trying to see what we can do to keep residents in Gaza safe. Loop and create areas for humanitarian aid and for civilians.”

But “we do not want a situation where displaced populations are forced to flee. “People should be able to be safe in their homes.”

When the agency UN for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) announced the transfer of its operations to the southern Gaza Strip, indicating that not all of its personnel had moved there.

“Some have asked to stay in the north. (…) They make their own decisions,” he added.

”We have 13,000 UNRWA staff in Loop, frontline workers, teachers, doctors, nurses and people who provide psychological support. “They stay where their support is needed.”

”The secretary general’s priority is to ensure that Israel allows humanitarian aid to enter” Gaza, Dujarric added.

The enclave is under siege on the seventh day of the war unleashed on October 7 by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel.

“Nothing has come in for six days. One of my UNRWA colleagues told me on the phone that he had not seen a drop of water arrive in six days. “We have almost hit rock bottom,” the spokesperson insisted, specifying that the UN He was in contact with the Israelis and Egyptians to try to get assistance to the enclave.