UN says movement of aid, aid workers in Gaza halted

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations said Monday it had to halt the movement of aid and aid workers within Gaza due to a new Israeli evacuation order for the Deir al-Balah area, which had become a hub for its workers.

A senior UN official had earlier said that UN operations had stopped completely within the Strip, but officials later clarified that operations “in situ” and “embedded” with local populations would continue.

According to the official, the UN had relocated most of its personnel in operations to Deir al-Balah following a Rafah evacuation order several months ago.

The Israeli military said on Monday it was targeting “terror operatives” in Deir al-Balah and working to dismantle the remaining “infrastructure” of Hamas, whose October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza.

The Israeli military has told people to evacuate immediately.

According to the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA), 15 premises hosting UN and NGO aid workers and four UN warehouses were affected, being either in or near the area ordered to evacuate.