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Gaza: New displacement orders force thousands to flee as famine looms

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In addition to ongoing bombardment, Israel issued another three displacement orders over the past two days, covering seven per cent of the total area of the territory. 

Overall, some 71 per cent of the Gaza Strip is under displacement orders or in Israeli-militarized zones, where the Israeli authorities require humanitarian teams to coordinate their movements. 

“These displacement orders come as populations across Gaza are at risk of famine and one in every five people faces starvation,” the agency said.

Thousands uprooted

Evacuation orders announced on Thursday have impacted thousands of residents in 10 neighbourhoods in Deir Al-Balah and Khan Younis, OCHA reported.

Initial assessment indicates that the affected area includes eight wells, five reservoirs, seven humanitarian warehouses, three health clinics and other critical facilities. 

Furthermore, displacement orders issued on Wednesday for six neighbourhoods in North Gaza governorate overlap with parts of zones covered under orders issued the previous day.

“According to preliminary estimates, the newly impacted area is home to approximately 100,000 people,” OCHA said. 

Some 30 sites for internally displaced people, six temporary learning spaces serving approximately 700 students, and several water and sanitation facilities have been affected.

Fleeing families return

Humanitarian partners report that several hundred families fled parts of the designated areas on Wednesday, however dozens have since returned due to lack of space and shelter.  

Another displacement order was also issued that same day for parts of the Rimal area of Gaza City.

OCHA further reported that Israeli forces hit another school-turned-shelter run by the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA, in the Nuseirat area of Deir Al-Balah on Wednesday.  No injuries were reported.

Humanitarians committed to deliver

Meanwhile, the UN and partners on the ground are committed to stay and deliver in the Gaza Strip despite the mounting challenges. 

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) evacuated 284 patients and their companions from the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis to Europe and the United Arab Emirates. Israeli forces hit the hospital premises twice one day prior to the scheduled evacuation. 

European Gaza Hospital is no longer functional following the attack, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a tweet on Thursday.

“The hospital’s closure has cut off vital services including neurosurgery, cardiac care, and cancer treatment—all unavailable elsewhere in Gaza,” he said.

He added that another strike near the Indonesian Hospital “spread fear, disrupted access, and raised the risk of closure.” 

Tedros underlined that “hospitals must be protected”, saying “they must never be militarized or targeted.”

Time is of the essence

More than two months have passed since Israel implemented a full blanket ban on the entry of cargo into the Gaza Strip, including aid and other life-saving supplies, which continues to drive hunger and deprivation.  

UN teams report that the number of hot meals provided by community kitchens has fallen from one million to just 249,000 a day.

OCHA Spokesperson Olga Cherevko told UN News that the situation will continue to worsen as supplies run down, forcing more kitchens to close.

“People are terrified and are telling me every day that they don’t know how they will survive,” she said.

“I have passed several kitchens in the past few days where crowds of people were standing with empty pots and despair in their faces, and these people were being told to go home because all the food had run out for that day.”

The UN and partners have 9,000 truckloads of vital supplies ready to move into Gaza, including food assistance to feed millions for months. Thousands more trucks full of aid are on standby.

OCHA reiterated that as long as the full blockade is not immediately lifted, the already limited assistance available will shrink even further, warning “time is of essence to prevent further death.” 

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Gaza: Starvation looms for one in five people, say food security experts

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“Goods indispensable for people’s survival are either depleted or expected to run out in the coming weeks…The entire population is facing high levels of acute food insecurity,” said the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) platform.

In its latest update, the IPC estimated that one in five people in Gaza – 500,000 – faces starvation.

Prices have soared for basics such as a 25 kilogramme sack of wheat flour, which now costs between $235 and $520, representing a 3,000 per cent price spike since February.

“In a scenario of a protracted and large-scale military operation and continuation of the humanitarian and commercial blockade, there would be a critical lack of access to supplies and services that are essential to survival,” the IPC said.

New strikes on UN shelters

The development comes amid continuing reports of Israeli bombardment across Gaza on Monday. 

On Saturday, another school run by the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA was hit, this time in Gaza City at around 6.30pm, reportedly killing two people and injuring an unknown number.

A day earlier, four more people were reportedly killed when another UNRWA facility was bombed in Jabalia camp, north Gaza. The agency’s office was “completely destroyed” and three surrounding buildings sustained severe damage, including a distribution centre. There were no supplies in the distribution centre when it was hit, owing to the continuing Israeli blockade, UNRWA said, noting that it ran out of food for Gaza “more than two weeks ago”. 

Echoing the wider aid community’s rejection of the Israeli plan to manage deliveries of food and non-food items across Gaza’s governorates, the IPC deemed it “highly insufficient to meet the population’s essential needs for food, water, shelter and medicine”.

IPC’s assessments help aid agencies decide where needs are greatest around the world. Food insecurity is measured on a scale of one to five, with IPC1 indicating no hunger and IPC5 denoting famine conditions.

According to the latest data, 15 per cent of people in the governorates of Rafah, North Gaza and Gaza are classified as IPC5. Most of the remainder are little better off.

Israel plan scepticism

Amid this disastrous and deteriorating situation, Israel’s proposed distribution plan will likely create “significant access barriers [to aid] for large segments of the population”, the IPC said.

And pointing to Israel’s recently announced large-scale military operation across the Gaza Strip and persistent obstacles impeding the work of aid agencies, it warned that there was “a high risk that ‘Famine (IPC Phase 5)’ will occur” between now and 30 September.

With hunger everywhere, a high number of households have reported having to resort to “extreme coping strategies” such as collecting rubbish to sell for food. But one in four of this number say that “no valuable garbage remains”, while social order “is breaking down” the IPC reported.

 

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‘She cries in her sleep’: Deeper crisis looms beneath devastation from Myanmar quake

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“I hate earthquakes. Earthquakes took my mother and my aunt away,” five-year-old Khin Yadanar told the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), after both her mother and aunt were killed when a brick wall collapsed on them.

Around 6.5 million children were already in need of humanitarian assistance before the earthquake, which compounded existing vulnerabilities resulting from the brutal civil war between multiple armed opposition groups and the military junta which seized power in a February 2021 coup.

Families now face a further threat from flooding and landslides with the arrival of the monsoon season.

Midwives are lifelines

As health services collapsed after the earthquake, “women, especially pregnant mothers, were severely impacted,” said Yu Yu, a midwife in Mandalay, speaking to the UN’s reproductive health agency, UNFPA.

Amidst the chaos, midwives have emerged as frontline heroes. Undeterred by aftershocks and confronting both physical obstacles and emotional challenges, midwives provided hope and life-saving support.

Yu Yu notably recalls the case of one of her patients who suddenly became stranded, unable to reach any medical facilities as she went into labour following the quake.

Without hesitation, Yu Yu rushed to her side: “When I reached her, she was exhausted, overwhelmed by fear and financial insecurity following the earthquake,” she recalled.

On that day, Yu Yu saved both mother and child, as the baby’s umbilical cord had wrapped itself around the infant’s neck.

UNFPA has deployed mobile clinics to ensure that women and girls continue to receive essential healthcare and protection services.

A 10-year-old boy with his parrot on his shoulder at a temporary camp set up in the aftermath of devastating earthquake that struck Myanmar.

Deep trauma

“She cries in her sleep, and I worry something inside her has broken,” said Thida, mother of eight-year-old Thiri, speaking to UNICEF.

Beneath the visible devastation of the earthquake lies a deeper crisis: the profound psychological trauma that young survivors carry.

“I was so scared. My heart was beating so fast – and all I could think about was my parrots and cats at home,” said Thurein Oo, a ten-year-old boy who was praying at a mosque when the tremor struck.

Across earthquake-affected areas, parents are witnessing similar signs of distress in their children – sudden anxiety, emotional withdrawal, and sleepless nights, say UN aid workers.

In response to this growing mental health crisis, UNICEF and its partners have mobilised to provide critical psychological support to affected communities.

Setting up child-friendly spaces, UNICEF aims to promote psychosocial wellbeing, build resilience, and restore a sense of normalcy to children’s routines. Through various activities such as drawing, children learn to cope with their trauma.

“I coloured a picture of my mother,” said Khin, who lost her mother in the quake. “I feel better when I draw.”

Although the physical rebuilding of homes and infrastructure will likely take years, the emotional and psychological toll the earthquake has had on children cannot be left untreated.

“I like coming here,” said Thurein, referring to one of these spaces. “I feel safe, and I made a new friend who also lost his home,” he added.

Earthquake survivors survey the ruins of their homes in Pyinmana, Myanmar following the earthquake there.

Proactive planning

While earthquakes are among the deadliest natural hazards, it is the collapse of buildings that causes the most devastating effects. As such, proactive disaster risk reduction – such as making structures earthquake-resistant – is essential to reducing deaths and economic losses.

Focusing on risk-sensitive urban development, UN-Habitat and the UN office for disaster risk reduction (UNDRR) are also working across Myanmar to mitigate the risks future earthquakes could pose.

While little can be done to prevent natural hazards such as earthquakes from occurring, much can be done to mitigate their effects.

As rebuilding efforts are underway, the UN is dedicated to “ensuring that each step we take makes the rebuilt areas stronger and more resilient than before,” said Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director of UN-Habitat.