The United Nations has estimated that up to 250,000 people are impacted by the Israeli military order for civilians to leave Al-Qarara, Bani Suhaila and other localities near the territory's second city of Khan Yunis.
"Over 1 million people have been displaced once again, desperately seeking shelter and safety (and) 1.9 million people are now displaced across Gaza... I'm deeply concerned about reports of new evacuation orders issued in the area of Khan Yunis," Sigrid Kaag told the UN Security Council.
"Palestinian civilians in Gaza have been plunged into an abyss of suffering. Their homes life shattered, their lives upended. The war has not merely created the most profound of humanitarian crises. It has unleashed a maelstrom of human misery," Kaag added.
She said that not enough aid was reaching the war-torn strip, and that the opening of new crossings, particularly to southern Gaza, was necessary to avert a humanitarian disaster.
Thousands flee S Gaza
Palestinians fled parts of southern Gaza in droves on Tuesday as Israeli forces launched deadly strikes and clashed with militants after issuing an evacuation order.
Witnesses described intense bombardment around Khan Yunis, in some of the heaviest fighting in southern Gaza's main city since Israeli troops withdrew in early April. A hospital source said shelling killed at least eight people.
The latest evacuation order has renewed fears among Palestinians, many of whom have been displaced multiple times by the Israel-Hamas war that started in October, with thousands fleeing.
More Palestinians escaped from eastern Khan Yunis, travelling by car, on foot, or by horse or donkey carts, carrying their belongings.
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