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UN chiefs reject unilateral proposals to create 'safe zones' in Gaza
The heads of several United Nations agencies and other humanitarian organisations have said they will not take part in the establishment of any “safe zones” in
Gaza that are declared by only one side of the conflict.
A joint statement signed by nearly a dozen heads of UN agencies, including the UN’s humanitarian chief,
Martin Griffiths, human rights chief,
Volker Türk, children’s fund chief,
Catherine Russell, and head of the World Health Organization,
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reads:
Israel has for more than a month been calling on Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza to evacuate south into Gaza Strip, a narrow coastal territory. The
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has established what it calls “humanitarian corridors” to allow residents to leave the north of Gaza.
Tens of thousands of people have fled from north to south Gaza in recent weeks, crowding into UN-run shelters and family homes where the UN’s human rights chief has warned that “massive outbreaks of infectious disease, and hunger” seemed inevitable.
The joint statement on Thursday said proposals to unilaterally create “safe zones” in Gaza “risk creating harm for civilians, including large-scale loss of life, and must be rejected”, adding:
The signatories of the statement said that none of the humanitarian organisations they represent have been involved in preparing for the arrival of displaced people in any prospective “safe zone” – or “humanitarian zone” – in Gaza.
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