UN Under-Secretary-General Jorge Moreira da Silva on Thursday acknowledged the “total collapse of infrastructure” in the Gaza Strip and lamented the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe, which has killed more children in five weeks than in the past four years.
“We are witnessing a total infrastructure collapse in Gaza, but… [quando falamos em] infrastructures, we are not talking about cement. People often associate infrastructure with concrete, electricity or telecommunications transmission lines. No! Infrastructures are about people’s lives”the Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), also said in statements in Brussels.
On the sidelines of a forum on infrastructure serving community sustainability and resilience, held in the Belgian capital, the United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary-General said Palestinians in the Gaza Strip “are already being punished for bombings, more than 13,000 people died.”
And he stressed that the situation was further deteriorated by the restriction of access to basic services.
“There is no water, no electricity, no medicine, no conditions to prevent the spread of disease. That is why we are witnessing a total infrastructure collapse in Gaza with very negative consequences for people’s lives.”he continued.
And the UN Under-Secretary-General, responsible for projects in more than 85 developing countries, has figures that prove the scale of the catastrophe in the Palestinian enclave: “These are impressive figures, 50% of houses were destroyed, more than 10,000 houses destroyed, 51% of schools were destroyed, 140 health infrastructures were destroyed. We are talking about a destruction of civilian infrastructures that are essential to sustaining life and health. education, housing”.
Referring to the call of the Secretary General of the United Nations, also the Portuguese António Guterres, Jorge Moreira da Silva emphasized the idea of “guarantee not only a ceasefire, but also the opening of humanitarian corridors that guarantee the security and quantity of aid needed”.
“The trucks that receive the aid, which come from outside, cannot distribute the aid because there is no fuel for the trucks to then distribute the aid inside Gaza. Is the argument correct that this fuel was used by terrorists? Sentence? It’s an argument I don’t support. I do not agree with the practical experience of UNOPS. It is clear that I cannot be held accountable for other projects involving fuels.”he completed.
The Executive Director of UNOPS, responsible for ensuring development infrastructure projects in regions and countries with precarious situations, such as Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine, lamented the high number of children killed by Israeli bombing in response to the September 7 attack. Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas.
“Never have so many children been killed in a conflict in such a short time, more children died in Gaza in just five weeks than in more than four years in all the world’s conflicts, but in addition to this punishment of the civilian population in Gaza, we are through bombings also witnessed a strong reduction in their living conditions due to limited access to essentials.”he emphasized.
There is still no estimate of the cost of the future reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and Jorge Moreira da Silva did not want to get into the discussion about who should pay, but emphasized one fact: “Gaza fell by 20% in the human development index in just four weeks, this has never been seen before.”
Source: DN
