The head of the United Nations company for Palestinian refugees has accused Israel of laying the groundwork for the mass expulsion of Gazans throughout the territory’s border into Egypt.
In an opinion piece revealed on Saturday within the Los Angeles Times, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini pointed to the worsening humanitarian disaster in Gaza and the rising focus close to the border of displaced civilians who fled the preventing, first within the north after which additional south.
“The United Nations and several member states, including the U.S., have firmly rejected forcibly displacing Gazans out of the Gaza Strip,” Lazzarini stated.
“But the developments we are witnessing point to attempts to move Palestinians into Egypt, regardless of whether they stay there or are resettled elsewhere.”
The widespread destruction within the Palestinian territory’s north and the ensuing displacements have been “the first stage of such a scenario,” he added, whereas forcing civilians from the southern metropolis of Khan Younis nearer to the border was the subsequent.
“If this path continues, leading to what many are already calling a second Nakba, Gaza will not be a land for Palestinians anymore,” Lazzarini stated, utilizing the Arabic time period for the exodus or compelled displacement of 760,000 Palestinians throughout the struggle that coincided with Israel’s creation in 1948.
A spokesperson for the Israeli Defence Ministry workplace liable for Palestinian civilian affairs didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Lazzarini’s accusation.
When requested about the potential of evacuating individuals into Egypt final week, a authorities spokesman stated Israel was “focusing on getting civilians out of harm’s way inside the Gaza Strip.”
A small variety of Gazans have been allowed to cross into Egypt for medical remedy, and a few overseas nationals trapped within the territory on the outset of the struggle have been additionally allowed to evacuate by means of the Rafah crossing – Gaza’s solely border not beneath Israeli management.
But different Palestinians are at present blocked from leaving, with the territory’s estimated 1.9 million displaced individuals, out of a inhabitants of two.4 million, turning the border city of Rafah into an unlimited camp.
Aid teams have sounded the alarm on the “apocalyptic” humanitarian scenario within the slim territory, warning it’s near being overwhelmed by illness and hunger.
Source: www.dailysabah.com