The United Nations Human Rights Office Calls 200 Thousand People Refuges Leaving Northern Gaza

The impact of the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip. (Wikimedia Commons/Palestinian News & Information Agency (Wafa) in contact with APAimages)

JAKARTA - An estimated 200,000 people have left northern Gaza, Palestine since November 5, according to the United Nations Humanitarian Affairs Coordination Office (OCHA).

"It is estimated that 200,000 people have moved since November 5 through corridors opened by the Israeli military, according to OCHA monitoring," the organization said in a situation report published Tuesday, reported by CNN November 15.

Previously, the Israeli military had operated a series of humanitarian corridors that allowed people in northern Gaza to move safely to the south.

The OCHA further highlights that those moving to the southern region have grappled with excessive density and limited access to housing, food and water, which creates growing concern.

According to OCHA, "100s of thousands" of people "who don't want to or can't afford to move to the southern region, stay in the northern region."

"They struggle to get the minimum amount of water and food to survive. Water consumption from unsafe sources raises serious concerns about dehydration and diseases transmitted through water," OCHA added.

Separately, a senior far-right member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it would be better for Palestinians there to move to other countries.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he supported the call of two Israeli lawmakers who wrote in the Wall Street Journal editorial, Western countries should accept families of Gazans expressing a desire to move.

"I welcome the initiative of the voluntary emigration of Gazan Arabs to countries around the world," Smotrich said in a statement.

"This is the right humanitarian solution for the population of Gaza and the entire region after 75 years of being refugees in poverty and danger," he continued.

He said the smallest region of the Gaza Strip without natural resources could not survive alone, adding: "Israel will no longer be able to accept the existence of an independent entity in Gaza".