The UN warned this Friday that the people of the Gaza Strip urgently need “significant and continued” assistance, and that they only have enough fuel for one day of operations in the area under Israeli bombardment.
The UN also confirmed the deaths of 57 employees of its Near East Assistance Agency for Palestinian Refugees since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
At a press conference in Jerusalem, the commissioner of the organization known by its English acronym UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, warned that “many will die soon” as a result of the siege imposed by Israel.
“People are dying in Gaza right now, not only as a result of bombs and attacks, but many more will die soon as a result of the siege of the Gaza Strip,” he said, as quoted by the French agency AFP.
“Basic services are collapsing, supplies of medicine, food and water are running low and sewage is beginning to overflow in the streets of Gaza,” he described.
Lazzarini said the aid that has entered Palestinian territory since October 21 is far from sufficient to meet the needs of the enclave’s more than two million residents.
“The current system is doomed to failure. What we need is significant and continued aid, and we need a humanitarian ceasefire so that this aid can reach those who need it,” he said.
The UN agency needs 160,000 liters of fuel to meet the humanitarian needs of the enclave, which has been under Hamas control since 2007.
“We only have fuel for today,” Lazzarini warned, according to the Spanish agency EFE.
Lazzarini said some of the fuel entered Gaza through an agreement between Israel and Qatar, but that UNRWA can only continue its activities and supply “partners, bakeries and hospitals” if it has access to that supply.
“Whether we have access to this fuel or not will only be possible if there is clarification with Israel,” he admitted.
Hamas announced that more than 7,000 people have been killed since the start of the bombing campaign launched by Israel following the Islamist group’s unprecedented attack on its territory on October 7.
When asked about these figuresPhilippe Lazzarini said that in previous wars in Gaza, the balances provided by Hamas “were considered credible and no one ever questioned them.”
If the total number of fatalities is related to the number of U.N. agency staff killed, “we find more or less the same percentage,” he said.
Lazzarini confirmed the deaths of at least 57 UN workers since the start of the current war between Israel and Hamas.
“Mothers, fathers, wonderful people, who have dedicated their lives to their community” and who “if they had not been in Gaza, they could have been your neighbors,” he added.
Doctors Without Borders calls for an end to the ‘massacre’ in Gaza
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the occupied Palestinian territories called for an end to the “carnage” caused by Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” in the Gaza Strip, the Europa Press agency reported on Friday.
“We must stop this carnage, we must stop the indiscriminate bombings that Israel is carrying out against the civilian population. Today we denounce that there is no safe place in Gaza, the population has nowhere to go,” he said. David Cantero in an interview.
“The Gaza Strip has been under blockade for 16 years and we must not forget that before the start of this war, the vast majority of the population, between 70 and 80%, already lived below the poverty line and were therefore solely dependent on international humanitarian aid. ” added the MSF coordinator in the Palestinian territories.
In this sense, the official criticized the “collective punishment” that Israel imposed on Palestinians within the strip, which he described as “a human cage.”
“That is why we call on all parties to the conflict to stop this massacre, to stop this carnage and to stop killing innocent civilians, including women and children,” he stressed.
The situation of hospitals in the enclave is “completely catastrophic” and “on the verge of collapse,” he said, noting that few hospitals are still operational, such as Al Awda or Al Shifa, the largest in Gaza.
“We had testimonies from our employees who had to perform amputations on children in the corridors, on the floor and under partial anesthesia, with all the consequences that entails,” he reported.
“We know that they also rationed electricity and had to turn off some incubators (…), a few days ago there were 120 newborns in incubators,” he said.
Cantero, on the other hand, classified the scale of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip as “ridiculous and ridiculous” and called for “massive” and “fluid” access to help the enclave’s more than two million residents, half of whom are children.
He also called for fuel supplies so that drinking water production plants and hospitals can continue to function.
“If fuel doesn’t arrive, hospitals will be forced to turn off the machines. We’re talking about incubators, we’re talking about babies, we’re talking about intensive care units, we’re talking about people in intensive care. ventilators,” he noted.
The coordinator also revealed the “extremely difficult” task of working in Gaza, as employees of non-governmental organizations “They are literally risking their lives” because “there is no safe place in Gaza.”
Turning to the West Bank, David Cantero recalled that MSF has been warning “for a long time” about the increase in tensions in the area, and that both 2022 and 2023 were record years in terms of deaths, injuries and forced operations. movements..
Source: DN
