Red Cross head says mass evacuation of Gaza City 'impossible'

Geneva: The head of the international Red Cross on Saturday denounced Israel s plans for a mass evacuation of Gaza City ahead of a military takeover,...

Geneva: The head of the international Red Cross on Saturday denounced Israel's plans for a mass evacuation of Gaza City ahead of a military takeover, insisting there was no way it could be done safely.

"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," International Committee of the Red Cross president Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement.

"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," she warned.

Her comments came after Israel's military on Friday declared Gaza City "a dangerous combat zone", as it prepared to conquer the occupied Palestinian territory's largest city after almost two years of war.

The Israeli military did not call for the population to evacuate immediately but the army's Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said on Wednesday that the city's evacuation was "inevitable".