OCHA: UN would not cooperate with any forced Rafah evacuation

3 months ago

UN would not cooperate with any forced Rafah evacuation

A displaced Palestinian woman who fled her house due to Israeli strikes takes shelter in a tent camp amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, February 13 , 2024. — Reuters pic

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Tuesday, 13 Feb 2024 9:02 PM MYT

GENEVA, Feb 13 — The UN humanitarian office has not received any communication from Israel of a plan to evacuate Gaza’s Rafah area either alone or jointly and would not participate in any forced evacuation even if it did, a spokesperson told Reuters today.

“We have not received any official communication from Israeli officials,” Jens Laerke, spokesperson for OCHA said in response to Reuters questions about Rafah plans. “Regardless, the UN does not participate in forced, non-voluntary evacuations. There is no plan at this time to facilitate the evacuation of civilians,” he said.

Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy previously called for UN agencies to “to cooperate with Israel’s efforts to protect civilians from Hamas and evacuate them from a warzone where terrorists are trying to use them as human shields.” — Reuters