The United Nations has paused aid operations in Gaza after Israel ordered another mass evacuation from Deir al-Balah, where the U.N. had been forced to move its operations center after Israel attacked Rafah. This comes as medical staff have been forced to evacuate patients from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, the last functioning medical facility in central Gaza. This is Louise Wateridge of the U.N. agency UNRWA speaking from Deir al-Balah.

Louise Wateridge: “To describe the situation here, it’s just catastrophic. The last couple of weeks, we have had relentless forced displacement orders in the middle area, in the southern area and also in northern Gaza Strip. And what we’re seeing here is hundreds of thousands of people forced to move on a daily basis. … The humanitarian operations are also being displaced within these evacuation orders, and the humanitarian response here is being completely strangled and limited our ability of what we can do.”