Since the conflict began to escalate, Gazans have been evacuating on average once a month. Gazans receive evacuation orders every two days Peace and Security
Evacuations have become an almost daily occurrence for Gazans, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNRWA). Tens of thousands of people have fled Nuseirat and Bureij after the Israeli army issued new evacuation orders. “Families are forced to move again and again, knowing that there is no safe place in the Gaza Strip,” UNRWA said.
Evacuation orders every two days
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there were still some 29,000 people in the evacuation area on Sunday. More than 200,000 people, or nearly 9 percent of the Palestinian enclave’s population, had already been displaced in the previous week following evacuation orders.
Only 14 percent of Gaza has not been affected by such orders, with residents “exhausted” by the constant displacement, many of whom have been displaced several times. “They are forced to leave their makeshift shelters almost every day,” UNRWA said.
On Platform X, the agency’s head, Philippe Lazzarini, said that Israeli authorities are issuing orders forcing people to flee every two days. This is sowing “chaos” and “panic” among the residents of Gaza.
People are often given just a few hours to gather all their belongings and set out, “mostly on foot or in overcrowded carts.”
“These orders have affected almost everyone in Gaza. Since the war began nine months ago, many have been forced to flee on average once a month,” Lazzarini added.
The UNRWA chief said the evacuation tactics “only increase the suffering of people who have nothing to do with this war.”
Catastrophic damage to education system
The UN has said the enclave’s education system has suffered catastrophic damage. Direct attacks on schools are on the rise, with attacks on UNRWA schools increasing significantly in the past two months. Nearly 93 percent of schools in Gaza have sustained some degree of damage.
The 344 schools classified as “directly affected” previously housed some 371,000 children, representing approximately 59 percent of the Strip’s student population.
Many of the schools were used as shelters by displaced people, and more than half of them were directly affected by the fighting. It is estimated that at least 84 percent of Gaza’s schools will need to be completely rebuilt or renovated to be able to function again.
The UN has also received information that schools are being used by Israeli security forces for military purposes, including as detention centers and military bases.