The Israeli military ordered people to leave parts of central and eastern Khan Younis, located in the south of the enclave, on Thursday, one day after issuing two separate directives for parts of northern Gaza.

The UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, said the parts of northern and southern Gaza newly placed under evacuation orders encompass nearly 43 square kilometres.

These areas include some 230 displacement sites, more than three dozen water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and five functional health facilities, including the Indonesian Hospital, according to initial tracking by partners on the ground.

OCHA said more than 80 per cent of the Gaza Strip is now assessed as having been placed under evacuation orders since the conflict began last October.

Aid volume more than halved

Meanwhile, the entry of aid into Gaza remains challenging due access constraints, lack of public order and safety, high levels of insecurity and other factors.

The volume of aid that can be brought into Gaza through operational border crossings has decreased by more than half since early May, following the closure of the Rafah crossing with Egypt.

In April, the daily average was 169 trucks, dropping to fewer than 80 trucks in June and July.

The decrease was even steeper at the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, which saw a more than 80 per cent drop in aid cargo entries during the same three-month period, or from 127 trucks daily in April to fewer than two dozen a day in July.

Prior to the ongoing war, 500 trucks entered Gaza daily, according to the UN.

OCHA said humanitarian assistance missions that require coordination with Israeli authorities continue to be denied and impeded.

As of Thursday, just 24 of 67 planned missions to northern Gaza this month have been facilitated while the rest were either denied, impeded or canceled due to security, logistical or operational reasons.

The situation is similar in southern Gaza, where roughly half of 100 planned missions were facilitated by Israeli, but the rest were denied, impeded or canceled. 

Source: news.un.org