Gaza - The United Nations said Monday it had been forced to halt its humanitarian operations in Gaza due to a new Israeli evacuation order for the Deir al-Balah area, a senior UN official said.

"We are not operating today. As of this morning, we're not operating in Gaza," the official said, adding that since the start of the war, the UN has sometimes had to "delay or take a pause."

"This is not a decision that we're saying we're stopping to operate, but practically, we cannot operate," the official said.

According to the official, the UN "had relocated most of our personnel in our operations" to Deir al-Balah following a Rafah evacuation order several months ago.

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The Israeli military said on Monday it was targeting "terror operatives" in Deir al-Balah and working to dismantle the "remaining terrorist infrastructure" of Hamas, whose October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military had told people Sunday to "evacuate immediately."

"We need to find solutions," the UN official said. "And if it means that we need to anchor down for 24-48 hours and reset, we do that. But we're not leaving.

"Right now, the challenge is to find a place where we can reset and effectively operate."