UN slams 'Israel'-claimed safe zones in Gaza as “farcical”

The United Nations on Friday delivered a searing condemnation of the areas ‘Israel’ has designated as "safe zones" in southern Gaza, with a UNICEF spokesman calling the notion "farcical" and describing the zones as "places of death." 

The statement underscores the UN's insistence that no genuine sanctuary exists for the more than one million Palestinians ordered to evacuate from Gaza City and other northern areas.

Read more: VIDEO: ‘Israeli’ forces target Gaza civil defense teams during rescue work

Speaking to reporters in Geneva from Gaza, UNICEF spokesman James Elder detailed the continuous dangers facing civilians, including children. 

"The notion of a safe zone in the south is farcical," Elder said. “Bombs are dropped from the sky with chilling predictability; schools, which had been designated as temporary shelters are regularly reduced to rubble, (and) tents... are regularly engulfed in fire from air attacks."