An area of Gaza reduced to rubble by the Israelo Defence Force after a barrage of airstrikes
Palestine – In a ruthless ultimatum, Israel has issued a mere 24-hour deadline to over 1 million trapped Palestinians in Wadi Gaza: evacuate southward and return when Israel says so or be prepared to face an imminent and devastating ground assault. This directive has left the already besieged enclave in chaos, with Gazans facing a mass relocation the United Nations deems not just difficult, but downright “impossible”. The ultimatum has been described by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as “a second Nakba”.
Israeli army drones have been dropping leaflets on Gaza’s residents telling them to flee. The leaflet, addressed to Gazans, says “Gaza has become a battlefield … You must immediately evacuate your homes and go south of Wadi Gaza. You must not return until further notice”. The leaflet goes on to say, “public shelters in Gaza City must also be evacuated. It is forbidden to approach the security wall and anyone who does will be at risk of death”.
The Israeli army has dropped leaflets on residents in Gaza, telling them to go into non-existent shelters today.
The text tells people to evacuate their homes “for the sake of your safety” and head into shelters.
Gaza does not have any shelters, and survivors of Israeli… pic.twitter.com/LMBgf0j4cF
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) October 12, 2023
While the UN and other organisations have evacuated their workers from Northern Gaza, the Palestinian Red Crescent have stood firm, declaring they will not leave the vulnerable and injured behind. In a statement on Facebook, the society said its medics would continue doing their “humanitarian work” and won’t leave people to face death alone”. In a statement released on Twitter/X, it said it did not have the means to evacuate those in hospitals or the elderly and disabled.
🚨Urgent appeal to humanity @PalestineRCS calls on the world leaders and the international community to intervene immediately to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding right now.
Please share widely 👇#Gaza_under_attack #IHL#HumanitarianCrisis pic.twitter.com/xwALVkDVM4
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) October 13, 2023
Heartbreaking moments as our #Gaza healthcare teams call to say goodbye, refusing to abandon patients. We’re not leaving. We will stay and serve in need.
As per IHL, those not in combat should always be treated humanely. We demand the safety of healthcare workers.#NotATarget pic.twitter.com/UmIwY2CDf5
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) October 13, 2023
“The order from Israel for more than 1.1 million people in Gaza to evacuate is shocking and beyond belief. The people in Gaza feel the world has turned their backs on them. We don’t have the means to evacuate the sick and the wounded people in hospitals or the elderly or the disabled. There is no safe place in Gaza. Humanity is on the line. The world must intervene to stop this catastrophe that will unfold in the next few hours.”
Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), one of the world’s most respected humanitarian organisations, has said such an order which is “absent of any guarantees of safety or return” would amount to a war crime.
“The collective punishment of countless civilians, among them children, women, and the elderly, in retaliation for acts of horrible terror undertaken by armed men is illegal under international law … The loss of civilian lives caused by deliberate or indiscriminate use of force is a war crime for which the perpetrators will have to answer. We fear that Israel may claim that Palestinians who could not flee northern Gaza can be erroneously held as directly participating in hostilities, and targeted.”
The statement from Egeland goes on further urging the United States, the UK, the European Union, and other Western and Arab Nations who have influence over the Israeli political and military leadership to demand that “the illegal and impossible order to relocate is immediately rescinded”.
However, while the NRC has called on these nations to demand the order be rescinded, the UK is fully behind this war crime. In an interview with Sky News, British Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps, backed Israel’s order stating, “Israel has the perfect right to defend itself. It is doing that in a manner which is giving people warning in advance when they go after areas.”
SMread: ‘Genocide in Gaza! What genocide?’ – Palestine under attack while we look away
Gaza under siege
Israeli forces have continued to relentlessly bomb and reduce Gaza to ruins after ordering residents to leave. Entire neighbourhoods have been reduced to rubble. The toll of this merciless campaign stands at over 1 700 lives lost and 7 388 people injured, including 1 901 children. Among the victims are 583 children and 351 women, as reported by the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza. The airstrikes have forced a horrifying exodus, displacing a staggering 423 000 people, according to the UN.
Photojournalist:
It feels like an earthquake hit this area. #Gaza pic.twitter.com/0UlvB1hfmi
— Muhammad Smiry 🇵🇸 (@MuhammadSmiry) October 12, 2023
Residential buildings following the airstrikes by the IDF Photo Anas Alsharif
Residential buildings following the airstrikes by the IDF Photo Anas Alsharif
Residential buildings following the airstrikes by the IDF Photo Anas Alsharif
Residential buildings following the airstrikes by the IDF Photo Anas Alsharif
Residential buildings have been reduced to rubble by the IDF Photo Twitter/@UNRWA
A spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) told Al Jazeera its shelters are filled to capacity and are unable to assist anyone. Over “17 000 people are in our shelters that we are no longer able to work in”, she said.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) on Thursday, revealed they had unleashed a barrage of “about 6000 bombs” upon Gaza since Saturday. To comprehend the scale of this assault, during the entirety of the war in Afghanistan, the highest number of bombs dropped in a year by the US Air Force Central Command was just over 7 423. This relentless assault is unfolding in a vastly smaller and densely populated region, further intensifying the human suffering and devastation.
The death toll is only going to increase. Six hospitals in the Gaza Strip have completely stopped operating. This comes after electricity, food and water continue to be cut. Astonishingly, these very acts were vehemently condemned by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, just last year when Russia perpetrated them against Ukraine. She labelled these actions “war crimes” and “acts of pure terror”. Yet, her silence now, as Israel replicates these same horrors, is deafening.
This act of denying Gazans right to food and aid is not the only war crime Israel has committed. Human Rights Watch has determined, based on verified video and witness accounts, that Israeli forces have used white phosphorus in military operations in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10 and 11, 2023, respectively. When used in densely populated areas, such as Gaza, it violates the requirement under international humanitarian law that parties to the conflict take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life.
Photos confirming the use of White Phosphorus munitions on Gaza as confirmed by the Human Rights Watch Photo Twitter/@WarMonitors
White phosphorus, a chemical found in artillery shells, bombs, and rockets, ignites upon exposure to oxygen, causing profound burns that can reach the bone. Residual fragments worsen wounds post-treatment and reignite when exposed to air. Burns covering just 10% of the body can be fatal. Exposure to it can lead to respiratory damage and organ failure.
The response from the international community
Jordan’s Royal Court has issued a statement from King Abdullah warning “against any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians from all Palestinian Territories or cause their internal displacement, calling for preventing a spillover of the crisis into neighbouring countries and the exacerbation of the refugee issue”.
Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs has called on Israel to immediately “reverse this grave mistake”.
Meanwhile Protests have erupted across the world in support of Palestine.
