The United Nations halted its aid efforts in Gaza on Monday after Israel issued new evacuation orders for the city of Deir Al-Balah, where the UN’s operations center was located, according to a report from Reuters.
The decision has put humanitarian missions, including a major vaccination campaign for children, at risk.
Israel issued the evacuation orders on Sunday as the UN was preparing to launch a vaccination drive targeting approximately 640,000 children in Gaza. The initiative was in response to a recent case of poliovirus paralysis in a 10-month-old baby, the first such case in Gaza in 25 years, the report explains.
A senior UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity to Reuters, confirmed that as of Monday morning, UN operations in Gaza had ceased. The official noted that the abrupt evacuation left essential equipment behind, further complicating efforts to deliver aid.
“We’re unable to deliver today with the conditions that we’re in,” the official stated. “As of this morning, we’re not operating in Gaza.”
The UN had previously relocated its main operations center to Deir Al-Balah from Rafah, which was evacuated several months ago due to Israel’s ongoing airstrikes. With the latest orders affecting Deir Al-Balah, UN personnel must now find alternative locations to continue their work.
Despite the halt in UN operations, some services are still being provided by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Sam Rose, a senior field director for UNRWA, told Reuters that while they are managing to deliver health and other services, the shrinking humanitarian zones are severely impacting their ability to operate.
“We are being squeezed into ever smaller areas of Gaza,” Rose said. “The humanitarian zone declared by Israel has shrunk to about 11% of the entire Gaza Strip. But this isn’t 11% of land that is fit for habitation, fit for services, fit for life.”
The humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate. As of Sunday, the death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza exceeded 40,000. Since the conflict began in October 2023, the war has displaced 2.3 million residents and pushed the Palestinian population to the brink of famine.