'The noose around the civilian population in Gaza is tightening': UN aid chief criticises Israel's evacuation order

Martin Griffiths, the United Nations undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, publicly criticised Israel's evacuation order, suggesting that it was completely unviable.

"How are 1.1 million people supposed to move across a densely populated warzone in less than 24 hours?" he wrote on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday.

"The noose around the civilian population in Gaza is tightening."

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He added: "I shudder to think what the humanitarian consequences of the evacuation order would be."

Overnight the UN Security Council met behind closed doors to discuss the Israel-Hamas war as Palestinians stream out of northern Gaza on those orders from the Israeli military.

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Friday's council meeting was scheduled before the evacuation order was issued and added still more urgency to the discussion.

The UN has said the order affects 1.1 million people, about half Gaza's population, and could turn an already dire humanitarian crisis into a calamity.

The council emerged without any collective message or action from another closed-door meeting last Sunday on the Israel-Hamas fighting.

At that meeting, the United States pressed unsuccessfully for a strong condemnation of Hamas from all 15 members of the UN's most powerful body, where divisions have sharpened amid Russia's war in Ukraine.

A Hamas official said they had launched 150 rockets toward the southern cities of Ashkelon and Sderot on Friday. Israel's rescue service reported no major injuries.

The Palestinian Health Ministry reported on Friday that 44 Palestinians have been killed in West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war last Saturday, with nine Palestinians killed today.

Citing the "terrible images and tragic stories" coming from the region, the Norwegian foreign minister, Anniken Huitfeldt, said on Friday that Norway was donating 70 million kroner ($10.15 million) in humanitarian support to Gaza.

"The suffering and scale of destruction is enormous. The UN reports that almost 500 children were killed. This is completely unacceptable," Huitfeldt said in a statement.

The situation "gets worse hour by hour. It is extremely important that the civilian population receives food, medicine, water."

The money, which she said will be paid out as quickly as possible, will go to the United Nation's emergency aid agencies and Norwegian humanitarian organisations.

Meanwhile in neighbouring Denmark, flags will fly at half-mast on Saturday in Copenhagen.

The capital city's mayor said Friday it was a gesture "to show the capital's sympathy for all civilian victims" in Israel.

Sophie Hæstorp Andersen said "it is important" that "we show the people of Copenhagen that we stand together across all parties".

Denmark's Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard previously said that the Danish flag will be lowered Saturday on the parliament building, the ministries of defence, finance and foreign affairs following "the cynical terrorist attack in Israel."