UNITED NATIONS (AP) — United Nations Commissioner General for Palestine Refugees Philippe Lazzarini said Monday during an emergency U.N. meeting that “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire has become a matter of life and death for millions of people.” and accused Israel of imposing “collective punishment” on Palestinians and forcibly relocating civilians.
Lazzarini warned that further deterioration of civil order following the looting of the organization’s warehouses by Palestinians desperate for food and other supplies “will make it extremely difficult or even impossible for the largest UN agency in Gaza to continue its work.” “.
Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and a senior UN humanitarian official presented reports to the Security Council painting a grim picture of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, 23 days after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel October 7 and Israel’s military response to “crush” the Islamist group ruling Gaza.
According to the latest figures from the Gaza Health Ministry, Israeli attacks on Palestinian territory have killed more than 8,300 people – 63% of them women and children – and injured tens of thousands, the humanitarian office told ONU.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said the figure included more than 3,400 dead children and at least another 6,300 injured. “This means that more than 420 children are killed or injured in Gaza every day, a figure that should shock us all to our core,” he said.
“This exceeds the number of children killed annually in all conflict zones worldwide since 2019,” Lazzarini added. “This can’t be ‘collateral damage’.”
Many of the speakers at the council meeting condemned the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed more than 1,400 people in Israel and called for the release of the nearly 230 hostages taken by Palestinian militants.
But virtually all also emphasized that Israel is obligated by international humanitarian law to protect civilians and vital infrastructure such as hospitals and schools. Israel was also criticized for cutting off supplies of food, water, fuel and medicine to Gaza and cutting off communications for several days.
Lazzarini said that “the handful of caravans” that have entered Gaza from the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in recent days “are nothing compared to the needs of more than 2 million people stuck in Gaza.”
“The current system for delivering aid to Gaza is doomed to fail,” he noted, “unless there is the political will for a significant flow of aid that meets the unprecedented humanitarian needs.”
Lazzarini, commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said there was not a single safe place in Gaza and warned that there would be a collapse in basic services, medicines, food and water is running low, and the streets “have begun to fill with sewage, which will soon pose a major health risk.”
UNICEF monitors water and sanitation issues for the UN, and Russell warned that “the lack of clean water and sanitation is on the verge of becoming a catastrophe.”
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield called for unity in a divided Security Council, saying that “the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is becoming more serious by the day.”
Thomas-Greenfield, emphasizing that the lives of all civilians must be protected, said the council must “demand the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, address the immense humanitarian needs of the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza and ratify Israel’s right to object.” “To defend terrorism,” and remind all parties that international humanitarian laws must be respected.” He reiterated President Biden’s call for humanitarian pauses for the release of hostages, the entry of aid and the safe transfer of civilians to introduce.
“This means that Hamas cannot use Palestinians as human shields, which is an unimaginable act of cruelty and a violation of the laws of war,” the US ambassador said, “and this means that Israel must take every possible precaution so as not to harm civilians.”
In a sign of growing U.S. concern over the high number of Palestinian deaths, Thomas-Greenfield told the council that Biden reiterated to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday that “while Israel has the right and the responsibility to protect its citizens from terrorism “But we must do so in accordance with international humanitarian law.”
“The fact that Hamas operates under the protection of civilian areas places an additional burden on Israel, but that does not diminish its responsibility to distinguish between terrorists and innocent civilians,” he said.
After the Security Council rejected four proposed resolutions – one rejected by the United States, another by Russia and China and others that did not reach the minimum of nine yes votes – Arab nations turned to the General Assembly on Friday, where there is no veto.
The 193-member world body adopted a resolution calling for humanitarian ceasefires leading to a cessation of hostilities with 120 votes in favor, 14 against and 45 abstentions. Now the 10 elected members of the 15-member Security Council are trying again to negotiate a resolution that will not be rejected. Although Council decisions are legally binding, the decisions adopted in the Assembly are not legally binding, although they are considered an important barometer of the opinion of the international community.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, criticized the council’s failure to condemn Hamas’ attacks, asking the organization’s member countries: “Why are the humanitarian needs of Gazans the only issue they focus on?” “
For his part, Riyad Mansour, Palestinian ambassador to the UN, called on the Security Council to follow in the footsteps of the General Assembly, end its paralysis and “demand an end to this bloodshed, which is an affront to humanity.” and crimes against humanity, as well as a clear and imminent threat to regional and international peace and security.”
“Let us save those who can still be saved and bury those who died with dignity,” Mansour said.
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