UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs: We Will Not Cooperate with Any Forced Evacuations from Rafah

The spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Jens Laerke, indicated today, Tuesday, that "Israel has not contacted the office regarding a plan to evacuate the Rafah area in the Gaza Strip, either individually or jointly." He added that "the office will not participate in any forced evacuation, even if Israel communicates with it regarding this matter." In a conversation with Reuters, Laerke responded to questions about evacuation plans by stating, "Israeli officials have never formally communicated with us." He further stated, "Aside from this, the United Nations does not participate in forced or involuntary evacuations. There is currently no plan to facilitate the evacuation of civilians." Earlier, Israeli government spokesperson Ilan Levy called on UN agencies to "cooperate with Israel's efforts to protect civilians from Hamas and evacuate them from a war zone that terrorists are trying to use as human shields."