Red Cross: Evacuating Gaza impossible and would threaten humanitarian catastrophe

The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, warned that any attempt to evacuate the city of Gaza would be “unworkable and unsafe” given the current catastrophic humanitarian conditions.

Spoljaric said a mass evacuation would trigger large-scale displacement that no area of the Strip could absorb, due to the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure and the acute shortages of food, water, shelter and medical care.

She also noted that many civilians are unable to comply with evacuation orders because they are starving, ill, wounded or living with physical disabilities.

She stressed that all civilians are protected under international humanitarian law whether they leave the city or remain in it, and they must be allowed to return to their homes.

She added that international humanitarian law requires that when evacuation orders are issued, “Israel” must do its utmost to ensure civilians enjoy satisfactory conditions of shelter, sanitation, health care, safety, nutrition and family unity — conditions that cannot currently be met in Gaza.

Spoljaric concluded that every minute without an agreement for a ceasefire costs lives, and that any further escalation of the conflict will only result in more death, destruction and displacement.