By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The Palestinian United Nations envoy appealed to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday to do more to stop a “crime against humanity” by Israel, which has warned nearly half of the population of the Gaza Strip to relocate as it plans an assault.
“He has to do more. Whatever was done is not sufficient. We need all of us to do more to stop this crime against humanity,” Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour told reporters before a meeting of Arab Group ambassadors at the United Nations.
Countries urged Israel on Friday to hold off attacking on northern Gaza, where more than a million civilians largely defied Israel’s order to evacuate before it goes after Hamas militants who slaughtered Israeli civilians last weekend.
The 15-member U.N. Security Council is due to meet behind closed-doors on the conflict later on Friday.
The United Nations said Israel’s military informed it late on Thursday that 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza should move to the enclave’s south within 24 hours, in what Palestinians fear could be a precursor to a ground offensive.
“The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences,” said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
The U.N. strongly appealed for the order to be rescinded to avoid turning “a tragedy into a calamitous situation”, he said.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan said the U.N. response to Israel’s early warning was “shameful.”
Hamas carried out their deadliest attack in Israel’s history on Saturday, killing more than 1,300 people and taking scores of hostages to Gaza. Israel has responded with the most intensive air strikes of its 75-year conflict with the Palestinians. Gaza authorities said 1,799 people have been killed.
“There is no place in Gaza that is safe. Every place in Gaza is dangerous,” Mansour said. “We need to stop this war immediately. We need to send convoys of food and medicine to help the people there and we need to stop this ethnic cleansing from taking place.”
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols, editing by Paul Grant and Grant McCool)
