New York, November 6 – The United Nations said the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza demands an immediate ceasefire one month after the Israeli-Hamas war broke out, killing 9,770 people with more than half of them children and women.
The UN humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) said, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, that the death toll since October 7 has reached 9,770 including 4,008 children and 2,550 women. In addition, the ministry said some 2,260 people, including 1,270 children, are reported missing in Gaza, with most presumed to be trapped under the mounting rubble.
The war broke out after Hamas militants in Gaza launched a surprise attack against Israel, killing 1,400 people, according to Israel.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and humanitarian groups launched an appeal for US$1.2 billion to help 2.7 million people, including the entire population of the Gaza Strip and half a million Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
“Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children. Hundreds of girls and boys are reportedly being killed or injured every day,” Guterres said at UN headquarters in New York, adding that more journalists have reportedly been killed over the last month than in any conflict in at least three decades. He said more UN aid worker have been killed than in any comparable period in the history of the UN.
“The parties to the conflict — and, indeed, the international community — face an immediate and fundamental responsibility: to stop this inhuman collective suffering and dramatically expand humanitarian aid to Gaza.”
Guterres called for “cool heads and diplomatic efforts” to prevent an expansion of the conflict as the West Bank and East Jerusalem are at a “boiling point” while “a spiral of escalation” is happing from Lebanon and Syria to Iraq and Yemen.
Martin Griffiths, the head of OCHA, said a dozen UN agencies are joining in calling for a humanitarian ceasefire with the message that “enough is enough”, and for the immediate and unconditional release of the more than 240 hostages captured by Hamas and held in Gaza since the start of the war.
Griffiths said all parties in the conflict should respect their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law. The humanitarians issued a call
for the protection of civilians and the infrastructure, including hospitals, shelters and schools.
They said in a joint statement that the killings of civilians in Gaza an “outrage” and the fact that 2.2 million residents in Gaza Strip are still cut off from food, water, medicine, electricity and fuel.
The statement said it is “unacceptable… that an entire population is besieged and under attack, denied access to the essentials for survival, bombed in their homes, shelters, hospitals and places of worship”.
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