A UN expert on displaced populations on Friday expressed her “appallment” at the Israeli army’s order to evacuate the population of the northern part of the Gaza Strip, which she said was a crime against humanity, Agerpres reported with reference to AFP.

“We are appalled at the idea that one million Palestinians will join the 423,000 people already driven from their homes by last week’s violence,” said Paula Gaviria Betancourt, UN special rapporteur on the rights of internally displaced persons. according to the statement.

“It is inconceivable that more than half of Gaza’s population could cross an active war zone without devastating humanitarian consequences, especially when they are deprived of basic goods and services,” she added.

“The forced displacement of the population is a crime against humanity and collective punishment is prohibited by international humanitarian law,” the Colombian expert said, asking Israel to reconsider the decision.

“Even wars have rules,” the UN secretary-general said Friday ahead of a Security Council meeting on the situation in Israel and Gaza, demanding “immediate” humanitarian access to the besieged Palestinian enclave, AFP reported.

“The situation in Gaza has reached a dangerously low level,” Antonio Guterres told reporters, describing a “health care system on the verge of collapse,” “overflowing morgues” and a “water crisis” in the besieged Palestinian enclave.