The leader of the United Nations agency overseeing Palestinian refugees has accused Israel of laying the foundation for the mass expulsion of Gazans, indicating a potential displacement across the territory’s border into Egypt.
The protracted and deadly conflict between Israel and Hamas, stemming from the militant group’s October 7 attacks, has resulted in the displacement of most of Gaza’s population. Nevertheless, Palestinians are largely hindered from departing the narrowly besieged territory.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, brought attention to the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Gaza in a Saturday opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times. He specifically highlighted the increasing concentration of displaced civilians near the border, who had fled the conflict starting in the north and later migrating south.
‘The United Nations and several member states, including the US, have firmly rejected forcibly displacing Gazans out of the Gaza Strip,’ Lazzarini said.
‘But the developments we are witnessing point to attempts to move Palestinians into Egypt, regardless of whether they stay there or are resettled elsewhere.’
Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, explained that the widespread destruction in the northern region of the Palestinian territory marked the first phase of a troubling scenario. He pointed out that the next stage involves coercing civilians from the southern city of Khan Yunis to move closer to the border.
Read also: Egyptians Head To Polls As Gaza Conflict Looms Large
‘If this path continues, leading to what many are already calling a second Nakba, Gaza will not be a land for Palestinians anymore,’ Lazzarini said, using the Arabic term for the exodus or forced displacement of 760,000 Palestinians during the war that coincided with Israel’s creation in 1948.
A spokesperson for the Israeli defence ministry office responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lazzarini’s accusation.
When asked about the possibility of evacuating people into Egypt last week, a government spokesman said Israel was ‘focusing on getting civilians out of harm’s way inside the Gaza Strip’.
A small number of Gazans have been allowed to cross into Egypt for medical treatment, and some foreign nationals trapped in the territory at the outset of the war were also allowed to evacuate by way of the Rafah crossing — Gaza’s only border not under Israeli control.
Meanwhile, other Palestinians find themselves blocked from departing, contributing to approximately 1.9 million displaced people out of a population of 2.4 million, converting the border town of Rafah into an extensive camp.
According to Israeli officials, the hostilities in the Gaza Strip were initiated by Hamas’s deadly assault on Israel on October 7, causing 1,200 fatalities and 240 people being taken hostage.
In response, the country pledged to eradicate Hamas, and its subsequent military operations, as reported by Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, have resulted in the death of at least 17,700 people.
Aid groups have raised urgent concerns about the “apocalyptic” humanitarian conditions in the confined territory, cautioning that it is on the brink of being overwhelmed by disease and starvation.