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Picture from a hospital in Gaza, taken on October 11.
1 / 2Photo: Ali Mahmoud/AP/TT
Over a million people are being asked to evacuate the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
How will that happen? Here are four questions and answers.
Who is to be evacuated?
Close to half of the residents of the Gaza Strip, about 1.1 million people. Anyone living in the northern part has been urged by Israel’s military to head south, past the Wadi Gaza watercourse which is near the center of the Gaza Strip. The announcement from Israel has been condemned by, among others, the UN, which warns that it will turn “what is already a tragedy into a catastrophic situation”.
Almost half of the residents of the Gaza Strip are under the age of 15.
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How is the humanitarian situation?
Extremely strained. A doctor with whom American CBS spoke at the beginning of the week stated that the medical care in the area “will collapse in two, three days”. The UN has warned Israel that it is impossible to evacuate the most fragile patients.
A Norwegian doctor on his way to Gaza agrees to an interview with NTB.
– There are no ambulances or other transport options.
Israel has also received criticism for the decision not to allow any humanitarian aid into Gaza. Alarms that both food and water are in danger of running out have occurred.
Large parts of the Gaza Strip are already more or less refugee camps. Hospitals and schools have been filled with people forced to leave their homes.
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Where will those who are forced to flee go?
South is the only possible direction. The Gaza Strip is the size of Lake Siljan, about 360 square kilometers, but home to around two million people. The border with Israel in the north and east is not an option for those who are now forced to flee. In the south is the border with Egypt, but there have been no reports of asylum from there.
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How is Sweden doing?
The government has already chartered a plane that brought home 143 people, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UD) stated on Friday night. Another plane has been deployed and is expected to depart Friday evening.
“Swedes who are registered on the list of Swedes for Israel or Palestine, and who have expressed a wish to leave, will be contacted when a place and time of departure are available,” writes the Foreign Ministry’s press service in an email to TT.