The Israeli government is demanding that Palestinian civilians evacuate Gaza city. The U.N. and humanitarian agencies\u00a0say<\/a>\u00a0that this is an impossible demand, and some say it is also unlawful:<\/p>\n The Norwegian Refugee Council, an international aid agency operating in the territory,\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0the evacuation order, which came without clear guarantees of safety and return, \u201cwould amount to the war crime of forcible transfer.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Nancy Okail, president of the Washington-based Center for International Policy, described the evacuation order as not only impossible, but \u201ca license to kill. Because those who remain behind, it would be sort of a warranty to kill those who stay.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n There is no way that a million people can safely evacuate their homes under current conditions. As Jan Egeland of the NRC said in the group\u2019s statement, \u201cMy colleagues inside Gaza confirm that there are\u00a0countless\u00a0people in the northern parts who\u00a0have no means to\u00a0safely relocate under\u00a0the\u00a0constant barrage of fire.\u201d\u00a0Even if they managed to do this, where would they go and how would they survive once they left? There is\u00a0nowhere for these people to go<\/a>. The displacement of more than a million people in the middle of what is already a dire humanitarian crisis would be a massive crime in itself. That is to say nothing of the collective punishment already being meted out to the entire population by cutting off access to supplies of food, water, fuel, and power.<\/p>\n The U.N. is\u00a0warning<\/a>\u00a0of \u201cdevastating humanitarian consequences\u201d if the order is not rescinded. Human Rights Watch\u00a0says<\/a>, \u201cThe roads are rubble, fuel is scarce, and the main hospital is in the evacuation zone.\u201d Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International,\u00a0said<\/a>, \u201cThis is a logistical impossibility. It would not be lawful for the UN to do this. Israel asking the UN to do this does not magically make what follows not-a-war-crime. US needs to urgently intervene here.\u201d<\/p>\n