Nearly a year into the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas, top UN officials called for “an end to the appalling human suffering and humanitarian catastrophe” in the Gaza Strip on Monday.
“These atrocities must end,” they declared, accompanied by signatures from the heads of UNICEF, the World Food Programme, and other humanitarian organisations, in a statement released during the annual UN General Assembly in New York, which brought together world leaders.
The statement declared, “Humanitarians must have safe and unhindered access to those in need.” “We cannot do our jobs in the face of overwhelming need and ongoing violence.”
The UN has long lamented the difficulties in delivering aid to Gaza during the conflict and the “total lawlessness” that exists in the besieged Palestinian enclave. Over two-thirds of the nearly 300 humanitarian aid workers who have died were UN employees.
“The risk of famine persists with all 2.1 million residents still in urgent need of food and livelihood assistance as humanitarian access remains restricted,” according to UN officials. “The health care system has collapsed. In Gaza, there have been over 500 attacks on medical facilities documented.”
A declaration for the protection of humanitarian personnel will be developed in collaboration with Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Sierra Leone, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, and all of these countries are invited to sign it. This announcement was made on Monday.
“It looks like 2024 will be the deadliest year ever for relief workers,” stated Penny Wong, the foreign minister of Australia.
She said, referring to the Israel Defence Forces, “Australia felt this deeply with the IDF’s strike against World Central Kitchen vehicles in April, which killed Australian Zomi Frankcom and her colleagues.”
“Gaza is the deadliest place on earth to be an aid worker,” she stated.
Two senior commanders involved in the WCK strikes were dismissed by the Israeli military, which also issued an apology. Official reprimands were given to three other commanders. Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, described the strikes as tragic and unintentional.
According to Israeli tallies, the conflict in the Palestinian enclave started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen broke into Israeli communities, killing about 1,200 people and capturing about 250 hostages and bringing them back to Hamas-run Gaza.
Since then, the Palestinian enclave has been devastated by Israel’s military, which has forced nearly all of its 2.3 million residents from their homes, resulting in fatal sickness and starvation and killing over 41,000 people, according to Palestinian health officials who do not make a distinction between combatants and non-combatants.
According to the Israeli military, at least one-third of Palestinian fatalities are caused by militants, and it takes precautions to lessen the possibility of harm coming to civilians. It charges Hamas, which Hamas disputes, of utilizing Palestinian civilians as human shields.
