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18 UN agencies and international charities reject IDF calls for evacuation to 14 km sq 'safe zone'
After the Israeli military dropped leaflets Wednesday afternoon telling Palestinians in areas east of the southern town of Khan Younis to evacuate to a “safe zone” in Mawasi, a town of just 14 sq km, the heads of 18 UN agencies and international charities on Thursday rejected the creation of a safe zone, saying that concentrating civilians in one area while hostilities continue was too dangerous.
Similar leaflets were dropped over northern Gaza for weeks ahead of Israel’s ground invasion.
The aid agencies called for a cease-fire and unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid and fuel for Gaza’s population.
Gaza, as seen from southern Israel, as Israeli strikes continue. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
Despite the IDF having told Palestinians to leave northern Gaza for the south, strikes continued in the south Thursday. In the city of Deir al-Balah, a funeral was held for 28 people killed in an overnight bomb that leveled several buildings.
Most of Gaza’s population is crowded into southern Gaza, including hundreds of thousands who heeded Israel’s calls to evacuate the north. Some 1.5 million people driven from their homes have packed into UN shelters or houses with other families.
If the assault moves into the south, it is not clear where they would go. Egypt has refused to open its borders to Palestinians forced to leave their homes by Israeli forces., though Egypt has received limited numbers of medical evacuees from Gaza through the Rafah crossing this month, most of whom have been taken to Egyptian hospitals for treatment.
“We have to concentrate on getting medical facilities established inside of Gaza so it can be more accessible to Palestinians who are in need for medical assistance,” Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said at a briefing for foreign media in Cairo on Thursday.
Daniel Hagari’s comments come amid mounting concerns about Israeli plans to expand military operations where people have sought refuge from fighting
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