Tag: Peace and security

Mr. Wennesland told the Security Council that he “watched in horror and in real time” as reports of mass casualties emerged from Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday.

“The circumstances of this catastrophe and responsibility remains and still needs to be clarified. And we will need a fact-based, full investigation and broad investigation,” he said, speaking from Doha.

Brink of an abyss

Mr. Wennesland, officially UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, updated the Council on his efforts to end the current hostilities, which he called one of the most difficult moments facing Israelis and Palestinians in 75 years.

He unequivocally condemned the Hamas militant group’s deadly attacks on Israel on 7 October, and seizure of hostages, saying there is no justification for these acts.

“I fear that we are at the brink of a deep and dangerous abyss that could change the trajectory of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, if not of the Middle East as a whole,” he said.

After more than a century of conflict and over half-a-century of occupation, the international community had failed to bring the parties to a just, sustainable political resolution, he said. The recent events have served to re-ignite grievances and re-animate alliances across the region.

“The risk of an expansion of this conflict is real – very, very real – and extremely dangerous,” he warned.

Diplomatic efforts

Mr. Wennesland has been working to avert this threat. He and the UN Secretary-General have been in constant communication with both the parties and regional and international actors “who have agency and influence”.

For example, meetings and ongoing discussions with leaders in Egypt have focused both on facilitating access for humanitarian aid into Gaza through the Rafah Crossing, the sole one into the enclave, and “our shared concerns and efforts to rein in further regional hostilities.”

The day after, we need to start working on now – Tor Wennesland

The envoy will return to Cairo on Thursday to join the Secretary-General in continuing these discussions, and he also welcomed the Egyptian President’s swift convening of a summit of world leaders to discuss the crisis.

Eye on the prize

“With the parties on the ground in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Ramallah, my message has remained steadfast, that we must not let the dynamic of the current conflict take our eyes off what I will call the day after,” he continued. “The day after, we need to start working on now.”

Mr. Wennesland stressed the need for time and space to achieve two urgent objectives, namely Hamas’s immediate, unconditional release of all hostages, and unrestricted access of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

He further appealed for collective efforts to end the hostilities and prevent any further expansion of the conflict to the region. “Regarding West Bank and Lebanon, there should be no miscalculation, no provocation and no step that closes the door for our current efforts,” he said.

The envoy also underlined the ultimate need to work towards a long-term political solution, in line with UN resolutions, international law and previous agreements.

Relief chief supports probe

UN Humanitarian Coordinator Martin Griffiths supported the call for a fact-based inquiry into the deadly blast at Al-Ahli Hospital, noting it had also been hit last week.

“This tragedy is characteristic of the crushing impact this conflict has had on civilians and…the catastrophic consequences it will have if it continues to escalate, as we fear,” he said, speaking from Cairo.

The UN relief chief detailed the damage the already beleaguered Gaza health system has sustained in the conflict. Since 7 October, 28 health workers have reportedly been killed and 23 injured.

What we desperately need – is immediate safe humanitarian access – Martin Griffiths

Health services are overstretched and on the verge of collapse, meeting the needs of the rising number of wounded patients in the face of ever-deepening shortages of fuel, medicines and supplies.

Death, destruction, displacement

Overall, more than 3,000 people in Gaza have been killed, including 14 staff members from the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA. More than 12,000 people are injured and hundreds more are unaccounted for.

Mr. Griffiths reported that the death toll has already exceeded that of the 2017 hostilities which lasted more than seven weeks.

“The pace of death, of suffering, of destruction, of breaches of international law, cannot be exaggerated,” he said.

Meanwhile, one million Palestinians have escaped their homes with nowhere to go, and as supplies of food, water, fuel and medical items dwindle. UNRWA has been forced to ration water to one litre per person per day, far less than the minimum standard of 1.5 litres.

‘Suffering knows no borders’

The UN’s top humanitarian official highlighted the critical need for aid to be delivered safely to civilians throughout Gaza, and for funding to support these operations. He said UNRWA, the Red Crescent, and other agencies have staff and many volunteers who are still on the ground and ready to assist.

“What we don’t have – and it’s a killer, and what we desperately need – is immediate safe humanitarian access. And that is the burden of our discussions with key parties,” he added.

Mr. Griffiths reported that prior to “these terrible weeks”, 100 trucks a day delivered aid throughout Gaza and “we need to get back to that level of ambition”.

Like Mr. Wennesland, he also expressed concern over the situation in the West Bank, noting that last week was the deadliest for Palestinians there since the UN began reporting fatalities in 2005. Violent incidents involving Israeli settlers have also increased, showing that “suffering knows no borders”.

Following the briefings, Council members weighed in with their contrasting views on the crisis, and the effectiveness of the chamber itself.

Russia

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said his delegation had initiated today’s meeting, with China and the United Arab Emirates, due to the bombing of a Gazan hospital, which caused more than 800 deaths and injuries. In this regard, he called for an independent investigation that would bring perpetrators to justice.

“This is the price of inertia in the Council,” he said. “We warned you about this on Monday.”

As such, action must be taken promptly, he said. The Council could not prevent the tragedy in Gaza, he said, adding that “We have seen the terrible fruit of this.”

All of this is happening with the inaction of the Council, paralyzed by the self-serving actions of some nations, he said, adding concerns about a possible spillover of the conflict.

China

China’s Ambassador Zhang Jun said the protection of civilians in armed conflict is reflected in international humanitarian law, urging Israel to fulfill its obligations.

Citing the current dire situation on the ground in Gaza, he said “there’s no time to lose to protect civilians,” calling on Israel to stop the bombing and open humanitarian corridors.

“An immediate and comprehensive ceasefire must be a priority,” he said. “Without a ceasefire, any humanitarian aid would be a drop in the bucket” and possibly trigger a catastrophe that would encompass the region.

China supports all efforts to de-escalate the conflict and work for the cessation of hostilities as soon as possible, he said, calling for opening a safe aid corridor and the return of Israeli hostages.

“The Security Council has no excuse to remain silent,” he said.

Opening the floor to the wider UN membership, the Council heard from, among others, the representatives of Israel and the State of Palestine.

Israel

Referring to the 7 October attacks by Hamas militants, Israel’s Ambassador Gilad Menashe Erdan said the “most barbaric and widespread terrorist attack” has been perpetrated, but “it appears this Council has forgotten.”

Recalling the deliberate actions of “Hamas Nazis” against Israel, he said nothing can change their “genocidal ideology”.

“There is only one solution to curing a cancer and it is the evisceration of the cancerous cells, as what was done with ISIS,” he said.

“The Council has not condemned Hamas’ terrorist attacks,” he said. Instead, the Council “is fixed only on humanitarian corridors and aid.”

“While noble causes, they are not a solution to prevent Hamas’ next atrocities,” he said, adding that “this Council is playing the exact role Hamas” wanted, including “weaponizing the UN”.

“Calling for calm, restraint, and ceasefires is like putting a Band Aid on a bullet wound,” he said.

“The al-Ahli Hospital was hit by a Palestinian rocket” and “the sole fault of Hamas”, he said, highlighting Hamas’ attack last week on a hospital in Ashkelon, Israel.

“Stop playing by Hamas’ rules,” he told Council members. “The time has come for this Council to hold Hamas fully and solely accountable for the war crimes committed. Israel’s rescue mission can end very quickly if Hamas terrorists turn themselves in and release all of the hostages.”

State of Palestine

Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the UN, emphasised that there was no right provided under international law to commit massacres.

“Israel is committing massacres every single day. Over 10 days now, you have witnessed it, killing entire families, bombing shelters, schools, hospitals, residential buildings, and convoys,” he told Ambassadors.

He said, it was “beyond belief” that some still speak of the right to self-defence of an occupying power, which itself made clear that it is seeking blind vengeance, forced transfer and annihilation of his people.

Mr. Mansour noted that while Security Council members call for protection of civilians, they have not been able to even call for a ceasefire.

“Those who cannot or will not call for an immediate ceasefire will lose any credibility, any authority, and share some of the responsibility for the devastation that is occurring now and what will occur next,” he said.

He went on to note that had the Council called for a ceasefire by passing Monday’s resolution, it would have saved hundreds of lives.

“We told this Council months ago, act to save lives – all lives. You did not hear us then, don’t make the same mistake now,” he urged, adding that an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding at the very moment.

“A political disaster is underway, and yet the Security Council is unable to say the only thing that matters – stop the bloodshed.”

The past 10 days of conflict have claimed the lives of 4,200 people, forced more than one million individuals to flee their homes following an order from the Israeli authorities and left large areas in the Gaza Strip “reduced to rubble”, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

“We have grave fears about the toll on civilians in the coming days,” said OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani, “with military operations showing no signs of abating, a continued siege on Gaza affecting water supply, food, medicines and other basic needs and daily indications of violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”

Secure corridors

In southern Gaza where a humanitarian emergency is already playing out, UN relief agencies reiterated their call for a secure and reliable humanitarian corridor to deliver stockpiled aid into the Occupied Territory.

Both Egypt and Israel have faced multiple calls from the UN and international community to protect non-combatants impacted by the war.

“We call for unimpeded access, safe passage for desperately needed humanitarian supplies to Gaza,” said Abeer Etefa, UN World Food Programme (WFP) Regional Communications Lead for the Middle East and North Africa. Some 300 tonnes of food “are either at or on the way to the Egyptian border in Rafah”, said Ms. Etefa. “That’s enough to feed around a quarter million people for one week.”

According to the UN human rights office, “a large number” of women and children are among the dead in Gaza, as well as at least 11 Palestinian journalists, 28 medical staff and 14 UN colleagues.

Tombs of rubble

“It remains unclear how many more bodies may be buried in the rubble – with many families missing loved ones, terrified about their uncertain fate,” Ms. Shamdasani said, speaking in Geneva.

Echoing urgent warnings from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA about the desperate situation in Gaza amid heavy Israeli bombardments, from the air, sea and land, humanitarians echoed deep concern that healthcare facilities had been targeted – raising concerns about medical care for the injured, including pregnant women and those with chronic health issues.

Additionally, civilians attempting to relocate to southern Gaza have been struck and killed by explosive weapons, demanding urgent and independent investigation, OHCHR says.

The world body has called for an immediate humanitarian pause to facilitate aid delivery and prevent further suffering.

Strict compliance with the laws of war and the protection of civilians is essential to prevent further loss of life in this dire crisis, Ms Shamdasani said.

More to come on this developing story…

“History is watching,” Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths told UN News in Geneva, highlighting the desperate situation facing around one million Gazans uprooted in the last week, after the Israeli military warned of an imminent offensive following the deadly 7 October attacks on Israel by militant group Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza strip since 2006.

“Aid access is our overwhelming priority. And we are in deep discussions hourly with the Israelis, with the Egyptians, with the Gazans about how to do that,” Mr. Griffiths said, adding that he was optimistic about hearing “some good news” soon that a solution could be found to the political impasse which has prevented aid convoys crossing from Egypt’s Rafah into southern Gaza.

The top UN aid official was speaking before heading to the Middle East, “trying to help, working with diplomats from all countries” to secure aid access and de-escalate the tinderbox situation, which UN Secretary-General described on Sunday as being on the “verge of the abyss”.

International responsibility

“It’s all Member States who have obligations…not just those in the region” to defuse the worst Israeli-Palestinian conflagration in decades, Mr. Griffiths continued. “The United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the Arab world all have obligations” to ensure that the lives of civilians are protected and the rules of war observed.

“Don’t attack civilian infrastructure, protect civilians when they move,” the UN official insisted. “Make sure they get the aid they need and make sure that there are corridors which allow them some respite from the relentless attacks that are happening upon them.”

Hostage crisis

Among the key issues facing diplomats is securing the release of a reported 199 Israeli hostages, seized during the Hamas raid, the UN emergency relief chief continued.

“This war was started by taking those hostages. Of course, there’s a history between Palestinian people and the Israeli people, and I’m not denying any of that. But that act alone lit a fire, which can only be put out with the release of those hostages.”

Amid ongoing airstrikes in Gaza and concerns over a regional escalation of the conflict – especially on the northern border with Lebanon – Mr. Griffiths reiterated the need for humanity to prevail.

“History is watching to see if the consequences of this war are going to be generationally bad or if there are going to be ways in which swiftly that can be rebuilt, some kind of comity or neighbourliness between those two tragic peoples. …(Those are) the messages I’ll be taking to the region about biased in favour of one or the other, that biased in favour of humanity.”

Toll mounts

Since the start of the war, which has claimed the lives of some 1,300 Israeli citizens and injured 3,200 more, a reported 2,750 people have been killed in Gaza and more than 7,500 wounded.

Fourteen staff from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNWRA, have also been killed. “They were teachers, engineers, guards and psychologists, an engineer and a gynecologist,” Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told journalists on Sunday.

Medical aid to Lebanon

The World Health Organization (WHO) has rushed critical medical supplies to Lebanon in order to be ready to respond to any potential health crisis there.

Two shipments arrived in Beirut on Monday from WHO’s logistics hub in Dubai, and include enough surgical and trauma medicines and supplies to meet the needs of 800 to 1000 injured patients. The Lebanese Ministry of Health is in the process of identifying the referral hospitals that will receive these vital supplies.

Lebanon’s health system has been crippled as a result of an economic crisis, the Beirut port blast that occurred in August 2020, and the additional burden of the Syrian refugee crisis. There are severe shortages of specialized medical doctors and health workers, and medicines and medical equipment.

Since violence escalated between Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory last Saturday, there have also been reports of clashes on the border between Israel and south Lebanon, resulting in casualties among civilians.

Latest updates from UNRWA:

• Over one million people – almost half the total population of Gaza – have been displaced. Some 600,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are in the Middle Area, Khan Yunis and Rafah, of those, nearly 400,000 are in UNRWA facilities – much exceeding our capacity to assist in any meaningful way, including with space in our shelters, food, water or psychological support.
• Despite the Israeli Forces’ evacuation order, an unknown number of IDPs remain in UNRWA schools in Gaza city and the North. UNRWA is no longer able to assist or protect them. Over 160,000 IDPs were sheltering in 57 UNRWA premises.
• The number of killed is increasing. There are not enough body-bags for the dead in Gaza.
• There is some water available in local shops, but rations are still down to one litre of water per person per day for the UNRWA teams in the Rafah logistics base (to cover drinking and all other needs).
• People across Gaza have severely limited access to clean drinking water. As a last resort, people are consuming brackish water from agricultural wells, triggering serious concerns over the spread of waterborne diseases.
• After five days, Gaza has had no electricity, pushing vital services, including health, water and sanitation to the brink of collapse.
• UNRWA has sent an advance team to Egypt to prepare for the possible opening of a humanitarian corridor to bring humanitarian aid supplies into the Strip.
• As of Sunday only eight UNRWA health centres were operational across Gaza providing primary health-care services, with estimated supplies of less than one month.
• There are a total of 3,500 hospital beds in Gaza. Evacuation orders apply to 23 hospitals in Gaza and north Gaza, adding up to 2,000 beds.

More to come on this developing story…

As humanitarians continued to echo the UN Secretary-General’s urgent calls on Israel to open a safe aid delivery corridor, Gaza will soon run out of basic supplies, according to UN agencies on the ground, who raised alarms about a looming unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.

Shortly after the outbreak of violence on 7 October, Israel shut all borders with Gaza, and the UN has been unable to replenish its stocks of lifesaving aid since then. As supplies in the enclave shrank against the backdrop of daily bombardment, UN agencies, partners, and nations have rushed to dispatch aid.

Here’s what’s in the convoy:

Bare essentials

Over the weekend, Egypt’s El Arish International Airport, which normally serves Palestinians travelling to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, became a hive of humanitarian activity.

Hundreds of tonnes of essential goods, from ready-to-eat food to latex gloves for emergency surgeries, landed in aircraft dispatched by UN agencies, partners, and nations, including Jordan, Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates, at the airport, located 45 km (28 miles) from Gaza’s border.

The much-needed donations were unloaded and transferred into border-bound trucks. Added to the convoy was Egypt’s contribution of 100 trucks carrying 1,000 tonnes of aid.

They include UN agency deliveries of pallets of tents, blankets, and a range of medicines.

In addition, the UN humanitarian affairs agency, OCHA, reported plans to provide 300,000 people with emergency kits containing essential items, and the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, had at the ready supplies to promote women’s hygiene, including 3,000 dignity kits.

Near the aid convoy, media reports observed rows of ambulances and emergency health workers waiting to tend to injured Gazans.

Medical supplies

A planeload of medical supplies was dispatched by the World Health Organization (WHO) to replenish its pre-positioned stocks in Gaza, which have dwindled to dangerously low levels. In the past days, the UN health agency sent two shipments from its logistics hub in Dubai.

Every hour these supplies remain on the Egyptian side of the border, more girls and boys, women and men, especially those vulnerable or disabled, will die – WHO Director-General

One landed in Beirut, Lebanon, carrying surgical and trauma medicines and supplies to tend to 800 to 1,000 injured patients, serving ever-growing needs as clashes escalate along its border with Israel.

That followed the weekend delivery of 78 cubic metres of emergency aid to El Arish Airport, enough supplies to help more than 300,000 Palestinians. To help to secure access through the Rafah border area, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met last week with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who agreed to its request.

The ready-to-be-delivered shipment contains basic health essentials alongside emergency supplies. These include enough trauma medicines and health supplies to treat 1,200 wounded patients and 1,500 patients suffering from heart diseases, hypertension, diabetes, and respiratory problems as well as trauma “pouches” ready to treat 235 wounded people.

Food

Also grappling with shortages, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has sent supplies to replenish its almost exhausted stocks.

Early Monday morning, a WFP-chartered aircraft landed at El Arish Airport, delivering 22 tonnes of humanitarian relief, including 15 tonnes of fortified biscuits and two mobile storage units to address the shortages in Gaza, according to the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS).

The UN food agency launched an emergency operation to get food, water, and other essential supplies to Gaza and the West Bank, and is also awaiting five trucks carrying, among other things,100 tonnes of food parcels.

Water and fuel

For the fifth consecutive day, the enclave had no electricity and residents have “severely limited access to clean drinking water”, according to the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, which operates in Gaza and the West Bank.

What is really key is to lift the siege; the UN should be allowed to bring in much-needed supplies. – UNRWA spokesperson

To prepare for the possible opening of a humanitarian corridor to bring aid supplies to the Strip, an advance team has been sent to Egypt, the latest UNRWA situation report said.

Fuel is “absolutely critical” for the desalination plant and water pumping stations, according to UNRWA. Fuel deliveries are also waiting to fill fast shrinking supplies that have been used to power emergency generators, including in hospitals, throughout Gaza.

At the same time, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Egypt dispatched trucks to the Egyptian Red Crescent Society, its partner on the ground, to expand UNICEF support in Gaza, with such essential items as water, mobile latrines, and dignity kits to address the immediate needs of 150,000 people.

Meanwhile, OCHA is advancing plans at its service hub in Rafah with a supply chain from local markets and agency stocks, including fuel, bottled water, hygiene kits, and water storage bladder tanks. The agency was also reviewing and checking the feasibility of water trucking operations.

As the siege continues, UNRWA has been unable to bring in any supplies since 7 October, said agency spokesperson Juliette Touma. Amid Israel’s evacuation order over the weekend, UNRWA had relocated its centre of operations to southern Gaza, nearer to the Rafah border crossing.

“What is really key is to lift the siege,” she said. “The UN should be allowed to bring in much-needed supplies.”

The statement came as the Israeli-imposed deadline for some 1.1 million civilians to leave the northern part of the enclave, ahead of what is expected to be a major advance into Gaza by Israeli ground forces, expired.

“UNRWA shelters in Gaza and northern Gaza are no longer safe. This is unprecedented,” said the statement.

The agency reminded that according to the rules of warfare, civilians, hospitals, schools, clinics and United Nations premises cannot be a target.

“UNRWA is sparing no efforts to advocate with parties to the conflicts to meet their obligations under international law to protect civilians, including those seeking refuge in UNRWA shelters,” the agency emphasized.

UNRWA pointed out that many of the vulnerable, particularly pregnant women, children, the elderly and persons with disabilities simply will be unable to flee south.

“They have no choice and must be protected at all times.”

Taps run dry

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said that with water supplies running dry due to Israel cutting off all utilities to Gaza, “it has become a matter of life and death”.

“It is a must. Fuel needs to be delivered now into Gaza to make water available for two million people”, he said.

More than 1,300 people were killed in Israel after Hamas fighters raided settlements close to Gaza last Saturday. In response, more than 2,200 have been killed during Israel’s aerial offensive on Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities.

On Friday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said it would be “impossible” for civilians in Gaza to comply with the evacuation order without devastating humanitarian consequences.

The UN chief called on the world to unite in support of the fundamental principle of protecting civilians, and “finding a lasting solution to this unending cycle of death and destruction.”

‘Agonising choice’ for hospital workers amid Israeli order to evacuate

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday strongly condemned Israel’s repeated order for 22 hospitals in northern Gaza to be evacuated, describing it as a “death sentence” for the sick and injured.

With around 2,000 desperately ill patients inside their wards, WHO said the forced evacuation of both patients and health workers “will further worsen the current humanitarian and public health catastrophe.”

The statement said the lives of those in intensive care or who rely on life support – including newborns in incubators and those needing hemodialysis – now hang in the balance.

“Health facilities in northern Gaza continue to receive an influx of injured patients and are struggling to operate beyond maximum capacity. Some patients are being treated in corridors and outdoors in surrounding streets due to a lack of hospital beds”, said WHO.

‘Tantamount to a death sentence’

“Forcing more than 2000 patients to relocate to southern Gaza, where health facilities are already running at maximum capacity and unable to absorb a dramatic rise in the number patients, could be tantamount to a death sentence.”

Those running the hospitals now face an agonizing choice, the agency said: either abandon the critically ill, put their own lives at risk by staying amid the bombing, or endanger patients’ lives “while remaining on site to treat patients, or endanger their patients’ lives “while attempting to transport them to facilities that have no capacity to receive them.”

The agency said that overwhelmingly, staff have chosen to stay behind rather than risk lives by moving those who are critically ill.

WHO airlifts vital health supplies

A plane carrying life-saving health supplies from the WHO logistics hub in Dubai landed in Egypt on Saturday to aid civilians in Gaza – as soon as access across the border into the enclave can be established.

The shipment includes trauma medicines, healthcare essentials, and equipment sufficient to treat around 1,200 who have suffered injuries during the bombing raids and around 1,500 chronically ill patients.

The cargo also includes basic health supplies to meet the needs of 300,000 others, including pregnant women.

With hospitals in Gaza either completely out of action, or simply overwhelmed, the supplies will help save the lives of the wounded wherever they can find shelter, WHO said.

Access essential

WHO said it was critical for the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border to be reopened. “While the Egyptian side of the crossing is accessible, the Israeli side remains closed”, said the statement.

“Every hour these supplies remain on the Egyptian side of the border, more girls and boys, women, and men, especially those vulnerable or disabled, will die while supplies that can save them are less than 20 kilometres (12 miles) away.”

WHO said it would be working with the Egyptian and Palestinian Red Crescent Societies to ship the supplies across the border into Gaza, as soon as practicable.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Monday who endorsed the request to facilitate medical aid across the border into Gaza.

‘I fear the worst is yet to come’: UN relief chief

Following a week of “utter anguish and devastation” for civilians in both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the UN relief chief on Saturday said he fears “the worst is yet to come.”

“In Israel, families are reeling from the horror of last Saturday’s attack”, said Humanitarian Affairs chief Martin Griffiths. “More than a thousand people have been killed and many more have been injured. Over 100 people are held captive.

“In Gaza, families have been bombed while inching their way south along congested, damaged roads, following an evacuation order that left hundreds of thousands of people scrambling for safety but with nowhere to go.”

The past week has been a test for humanity, and humanity is failing – Martin Griffiths

He warned that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, “already critical, is fast becoming untenable.”

The OCHA chief warned that violence is on the rise in the occupied West Bank, with a surge in civilian deaths and injuries leaving families “facing ever greater movement restrictions.”

“And in Lebanon, the risk of the conflict spilling into the country is a major concern.”

He called for all civilians and civilian infrastructure, including humanitarian workers, to be protected by all combatants.

Mr. Griffiths echoed the UN chief’s appeal saying all countries with influence must exert it to ensure respect for the rules of war and to avoid any further escalation and spillover.

“The past week has been a test for humanity, and humanity is failing.”

UN independent expert warns of ‘mass ethnic cleansing’

An independent UN-appointed human rights expert warned on Saturday that Gaza’s civilian population was now in grave danger of “mass ethnic cleansing” on the international community to urgently mediate a ceasefire.

“The situation in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel has reached fever pitch,” said Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967.

She called on the UN and Member States to intensify efforts to mediate an immediate ceasefire between the parties, before “a point of no return” is reached.

The UN Human Rights Council-appointed expert reminded the international community of its responsibility to prevent and protect populations from atrocity crimes.

‘Both deserve to live in peace’

“Time is of the essence. Palestinians and Israelis both deserve to live in peace, equality of rights, dignity and freedom,” Ms. Albanese said. “Any continued military operations by Israel have gone well beyond the limits of international law. The international community must stop these egregious violations of international law now, before tragic history is repeated.”

Special Rapporteurs and other independent experts work on a voluntary basis, they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work.

Lebanon frontier: Peacekeepers warn of further ‘tragedies’ following journalist’s death

The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon on Saturday extended its heartfelt condolences to the family of a Reuter’s news agency video journalist who was killed in the south of the country, covering the exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militia.

In a statement, UNIFIL, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, confirmed there had been firing across the Blue Line, the unofficial frontier between the two countries, with Israeli forces striking a position on Friday close to the village of Alma As Shab.

According to Reuters, Issam Al Abdullah, a Lebanese videographer, was killed during the exchange of fire and six other journalists were injured.

UNIFIL wished the injured media workers a swift recovery and stressed that it could not say exactly how the group had been hit.

Stop the escalation

“If the situation continues to escalate, we will most likely see more such tragedies. Any civilian loss of life is a tragedy and should be prevented at all times.

“This is why we urge everyone to cease fire and allow us, as peacekeepers, to help find solutions”, the statement added. “No one wants to see more people hurt or killed.”

According to news reports, Israeli authorities have pledged to investigate the incident.