UNRWA Calls Israel's Refugee Location Uninhabitable

Palestinian refugee shelters at UNRWA facilities. (Twitter/@UNRWA)

JAKARTA - Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza Scott Anderson said on Monday the newly expanded area in Al-Mawasi, where the Israeli military directed thousands of people from the eastern Rafah to evacuate, was not "decent enough" to live in.

Speaking from Rafah, Anderson described the west coast of Gaza as a "sandy area" with "many beaches."

"This is really not a suitable place for people to set up tents and be able to sit and try to live and meet their basic needs every day," he told CNN, as quoted May 7.

"I know they've expanded their territory recently, but most are in Khan Younis and we're still trying to recover him from the operations that took place there," he continued.

As previously reported, the Israeli military issued calls for civilians and refugees in eastern Rafah to move north of the city, along with plans for operations to be carried out there. Israel has long wanted to invade Rafah to hunt down Hamas battalions.

The Israeli military said the evacuation of residents and refugees in the eastern Rafah was not a massive step in the southern region of Gaza.

When asked how long residents had to leave, Israeli military spokesman Colonel Nadav Shoshani said: "People have at least days to move," he said when asked how long residents had to evacuate.

Colonel Shoshani said the "humanity" area in Al-Mawasi, a coastal city west of Khan Younis, was equipped with "field hospitals, tents, an increase in the amount of food, water, medicines and additional supplies."

Shoshani also said local waterways had been repaired when the area was expanded.

Anderson said the Israeli evacuation order could have an impact on about 100,000 people from more than one million people currently in Rafah, more than half of whom are children.

He said that some residents who would be affected by the evacuation had moved four or five times to evacuate locations.