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** ICRC president: Mass evacuation of Gaza City unfeasible and incomprehensible
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ICRC – News Release
30 August 2025
Geneva (ICRC) – The following is a quote attributable to ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric on the humanitarian situation in Gaza City and the risks that mass evacuation orders pose to civilians:
It is impossible that a mass evacuation of Gaza City could ever be done in a way that is safe and dignified under the current conditions. Such an evacuation would trigger a massive population movement that no area in the Gaza Strip can absorb, given the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure and the extreme shortages of food, water, shelter and medical care. 
The order would be imposed on civilians who are already traumatised by months of fighting and terrified by what could come next. Many are unable to comply with evacuation orders because they are starving, sick, injured or suffering from physical disabilities. All civilians are protected by international humanitarian law (IHL), whether they leave or stay behind, and must be allowed to return home. 
IHL requires that when evacuation orders are issued, Israel must do everything to ensure that civilians have satisfactory conditions of shelter, hygiene, health, safety and nutrition, and that families are not separated. These conditions cannot currently be met in Gaza. This makes any evacuation not only unfeasible but incomprehensible under the present circumstances. 
Every minute without a ceasefire agreement costs lives. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to flow at a scale that meets the needs. Hamas must release all remaining hostages. Any further escalation of the conflict will only lead to more death, destruction and displacement.
About the ICRC
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a neutral, impartial and independent organization with an exclusively humanitarian mandate that stems from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. It helps people around the world affected by armed conflict and other violence, doing everything it can to protect their lives and dignity and to relieve their suffering, often alongside its Red Cross and Red Crescent partners.
** For more information, please contact:
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Public Relations Unit | International Committee of the Red Cross | 19, avenue de la Paix | 1202 Geneva | Switzerland
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ICRC, Avenue de la Paix, 19, Geneva, . 1201 Switzerland