Impracticable Mass Evacuation of Gaza City According to Red Cross Head Deems Israeli Plans Infeasible

In the midst of mounting pressure, Israel has declared Gaza City a dangerous combat zone, preparing for a military takeover after almost two years of war. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the International Red Cross (ICRC) have called for an immediate ceasefire, mass delivery of aid supplies, and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages.

The Israeli military has not called for the population to evacuate immediately, but the army's Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, suggested that the city's evacuation is "inevitable". However, Mirjana Spoljaric, the ICRC president, denounced Israel's plans for a mass evacuation of Gaza City, stating that such an evacuation would be unfeasible and incomprehensible under the present circumstances.

Spoljaric highlighted that international humanitarian law (IHL) requires Israel to ensure satisfactory conditions of shelter, hygiene, health, safety, and nutrition for civilians during evacuations. She pointed out that many civilians are unable to comply with evacuation orders due to starvation, sickness, injury, or physical disabilities.

The ICRC president stressed that all civilians are protected by IHL, whether they leave or stay behind, and must be allowed to return home. She warned that any further escalation of the conflict will only lead to more death, destruction, and displacement. Such an evacuation, she added, would trigger a massive population movement that no area in the Gaza Strip can absorb, given the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure and extreme shortages of food, water, shelter, and medical care.

UN estimates suggest that nearly a million people currently live in Gaza governorate, which includes Gaza City and its surroundings in the north of the territory. Israel is under mounting pressure at home and abroad to end its offensive in Gaza, where the vast majority of the population has been displaced at least once and the United Nations has declared a famine.

It was not mentioned in the text that some Palestinians are already leaving Gaza City ahead of the Israeli offensive, nor that Hamas rejects Israel's Gaza relocation plan as a new wave of genocide. The ICRC president reiterated the call for an immediate ceasefire, a mass influx of aid, and for Palestinian group Hamas to release its remaining Israeli hostages. Spoljaric insisted that a mass evacuation of Gaza City cannot be done safely under current conditions.

Impracticable Mass Evacuation of Gaza City According to Red Cross Head Deems Israeli Plans Infeasible