Rejecting that Palestinians were ‘forcefully displaced’ in the Gaza region following Israel’s warnings to evacuate, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday, October 13, said that if such a situation arises, it would constitute a “second nakba”.
Nakba refers to the mass displacement of nearly 800,000 Palestinians out of their homes in the first Middle East war 1948.
In a conversation with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Amman, capital city of Jorden, Abbas said the immediate opening of humanitarian corridors in the blockaded coastal enclave is necessary to prevent a humanitarian disaster.
On Friday morning, the UN announced that the Israeli military has instructed 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza to relocate to the south within 24 hours. “The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
“The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation,” he said.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has urged immediate international intervention to prevent a “humanitarian catastrophe”.
“We don’t have the means to evacuate the sick and the wounded people in our hospitals or the elderly and the disabled,” a spokesperson for the humanitarian group said.
“There are severely ill people whose injuries mean their only chances of survival is being on life support, such as mechanical ventilators,” said WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic, Reuters reported.
“So moving those people is a death sentence. Asking health workers to do so is beyond cruel.”
The war began on Saturday, October 7, after Hamas infiltrated southern Israel, sending fighters, firing 5,000 rockets, and taking captives, including women, children, and the elderly, which prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn of “a long and difficult war.“
In Gaza, the health ministry said at least 1,900 Palestinians have been killed, including 614 children and 276 women and 7,696 citizens wounded due to Israeli attacks.
On the Israeli side, at least 1,300 people have been killed, including 264 soldiers and 3,400 wounded.
