Today [12 October] just before midnight local time, team leaders of the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Department of Safety and Security in Gaza were informed by their liaison officers in the Israeli military that the entire population of Gaza north of Wadi Gaza should relocate to southern Gaza within the next 24 hours.  This amounts to approximately 1.1 million people.  The same order applied to all UN staff and those sheltered in UN facilities – including schools, health centres and clinics.
 
The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences.
 
The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.

Stéphane Dujarric
Spokesman for the Secretary-General