More than 8,000 people were killed, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
united nations:
The United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA) warned on Monday that the limited number of aid trucks entering Gaza was insufficient to meet the region’s “unprecedented humanitarian needs.”
UNRWA Director-General Philippe Lazzarini told the UN Security Council, referring to the only border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, that “200 people are trapped in Gaza, including a small number of convoys that have been allowed to pass through Rafah. “It is insignificant compared to the needs of more than 10,000 people.”
Israeli officials said on October 7 that an armed group attacked across the border, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking 230 hostages. launched a large-scale bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip.
The attack destroyed thousands of buildings and killed more than 8,000 people, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said 33 trucks carrying water, food and medicine entered Gaza via Rafah on Sunday.
Before the war, about 500 trucks loaded with aid and other supplies were entering Gaza every day.
“The systems in place to authorize aid to Gaza are set to fail unless there is political will to meaningfully allow the flow of supplies to meet the unprecedented humanitarian needs,” Lazzarini said. He called on the Security Council to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
He said 64 of his UNRWA colleagues had been killed in just over three weeks, which he said was “the highest number of UN aid workers killed in conflict in such a short period of time.”
He added that a UN official named Sameer, as well as Sameer’s wife and eight children, were killed hours before the meeting.
“UNRWA’s colleagues are the only ray of hope for the entire Gaza Strip… but they lack fuel, water, food and medicine and will soon be unable to operate,” Swiss and Italian officials said. .
“The entire population is being dehumanized,” he warned.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell told the council that UNICEF’s agency said: “The real cost of this escalation is the lives of children lost to violence and the lives of children forever changed by violence.” “I believe it will be measured,” he said.
The United Nations General Assembly last week adopted a non-binding resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire, but the Security Council has so far failed to reach agreement on any war text.
With permanent members Russia, China and the United States vetoing previous resolutions, the 10 members of the Security Council have begun work on a new draft with the hope of winning consensus. .
“We have the means to achieve something, yet we continue to fail shamefully,” said Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, whose country currently holds the rotating Presidency of the Security Council.
“The eyes of the world are upon us and will not take our eyes off the dire situation of our inability to act,” he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
