United Nations warns of impossibility of establishing so-called "safe zones"
The United Nations has warned that the establishment of safe zones for civilians in the Gaza Strip to flee the fighting between Israel and the radical Islamic Hamas is impossible. "These zones can be neither safe nor humanitarian if they are declared unilaterally," said James Elder, spokesman for the UN Children's Fund, Unicef, at an online press conference from Cairo on Tuesday. "The so-called safe zones (...) are not scientific, they are not rational, they are not possible, and I think the authorities are aware of that."
This is "heartless and shows a reinforcement of indifference towards the children and women" in the Gaza Strip, continued Elder, who has just spent several days in the Palestinian territory.
Following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, Israel initially concentrated its offensive in the Gaza Strip on the north of the coastal strip. In the meantime, the army has dropped leaflets in parts of the southern Gaza Strip calling on Palestinian refugees to flee to other areas.
The war between Israel and Hamas has now been going on for more than eight weeks. On 7 October, hundreds of fighters from Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the USA and the EU, invaded Israel and committed atrocities, mainly against civilians. According to Israeli reports, around 1,200 people were killed and around 240 people were taken hostage.
In response, Israel began massive attacks on targets in the Gaza Strip. According to Hamas, which cannot be independently verified, almost 15,900 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since then, most of them civilians.
As Israel now pushes deeper into the Gaza Strip, international aid organizations have warned that civilians in the densely populated area are running out of places to flee to.
Read also:
Source: www.ntv.de
