Palestinians queue to collect drinking water from a water treatment station in the central Gaza Strip to distribute to displaced people at the UN school shelters in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Oct 27, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)
UNITED NATIONS -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Friday that the humanitarian system in Gaza is facing a total collapse with unimaginable consequences for more than 2 million civilians.
As the bombing intensifies, needs are growing ever more critical and colossal. Yet far too small amounts of supplies are coming into Gaza, he said in a statement.
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"Given the desperate and dramatic situation, the United Nations will not be able to continue to deliver inside Gaza without an immediate and fundamental shift in how aid is going in," Guterres said.
Without a fundamental change, the people of Gaza will face an unprecedented avalanche of human suffering, warned the UN chief
According to the UN chief, about 500 trucks per day were crossing into Gaza before the hostilities began on Oct 7, but in recent days, an average of only 12 trucks per day have entered, despite needs being far greater than at any time before. In addition, the supplies that have trickled in do not include fuel for UN operations, while fuel is also essential to power hospitals, water desalination plants, food production and aid distribution.
The verification system for the movement of goods through the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border must be adjusted to allow many more trucks to enter Gaza without delay, he said. "We must meet the expectations and core needs of civilians in Gaza. Life-saving humanitarian aid -- food, water, medicine, fuel -- must be allowed to reach all civilians swiftly, safely and at scale."
Guterres welcomed the growing global consensus for a humanitarian pause in the conflict, and repeated his call for a humanitarian cease-fire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and the delivery of life-saving supplies at the scale needed.
Without a fundamental change, the people of Gaza will face an unprecedented avalanche of human suffering, warned the UN chief.
"Everyone must assume their responsibilities. This is a moment of truth. History is judging us all," he said.
Palestinians look for survivors after an Israeli airstrike on buildings at Shati refugee camp, Gaza Strip, Oct 27, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)
Humanitarian should be unconditional
All humanitarian assistance and humanitarian issues have to be unconditional, Lynn Hastings, the United Nations (UN) humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, told a press conference here on Friday.
In addition, 45 percent of all housing units there have been destroyed or damaged, 76 attacks have been recorded on health care facilities affecting 35 facilities and 24 ambulances, and 219 facilities for education have also been hit
Hastings cited the Gaza-based Health Ministry as saying that so far at least 6,500 Palestinians have been killed in the past 21 days, 17,000 are injured, with 68 percent of those being children and women.
In addition, 45 percent of all housing units there have been destroyed or damaged, 76 attacks have been recorded on health care facilities affecting 35 facilities and 24 ambulances, and 219 facilities for education have also been hit, she said.
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For the 18th consecutive day, Gaza remains under full electricity blackout after Israel halted electricity, fuel and water supply to Gaza. The backup generators for many essential services, including hospitals and water desalination plants and food production, are one by one coming to a halt because of the lack of fuel, she added.
According to the official, the health system in Gaza is overrun, and one third of the hospitals there have been shut down, so did two-thirds of the primary health care clinics due to the damage or to the lack of fuel.
She told reporters that though being ordered to leave the north, about 300,000 to 400,000 Gaza people still have to remain in the north.
The bodies of a father and his child killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, lie in front of the morgue at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, Oct 22, 2023. ( PHOTO / AP)
Over 1.4m forced to flee
More than 1.4 million people in Gaza have been forced to flee their homes, with nearly half of them now taking shelter in United Nations (UN) schools, a senior World Food Programme (WFP) official said at a press briefing here on Friday.
"Nowhere in Gaza is safe. Shelters have been impacted by airstrikes and violence," said Samer Abdeljaber, country director for Palestine of the WFP.
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He said that in Gaza, food was running out and there was limited access to water and electricity, affecting over two million people.
According to Abdeljaber, bakeries will shut within days if fuel is not allowed in, and people are risking their lives while cueing for hours to secure bread, yet many return to the shelters without it.
According to Abdeljaber, over half a million people in Gaza were struggling to afford basic meals already before the crisis. Gaza also has some of the highest unemployment and poverty rates in the world
"The notion of a warm meal is out of reach. There is no way for people to cook," he said.
Humanitarian convoys have been trickling in since October 21 after two weeks of no cargo going into Gaza, but their scale and frequency is nowhere near enough to eliminate people's suffering, he said.
According to Abdeljaber, over half a million people in Gaza were struggling to afford basic meals already before the crisis. Gaza also has some of the highest unemployment and poverty rates in the world.
Richard Peeperkorn, Occupied Palestinian Territory representative for the World Health Organization (WHO), told Friday's press briefing that the WHO had so far received reports of 7,045 deaths, almost half of them children, and of 80,482 people with injuries, of whom 33 percent were children.
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According to the WHO official, an estimated 200 patients in critical condition need to be evacuated from Gaza; 1,000 patients need kidney dialysis for which fuel is needed; 130 prematurely born babies are in incubators; 2,000 cancer patients are at risk; and multiple patients are in intensive care units, on ventilators and receiving machine-assisted care.
But while 23 of the 35 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are still partially functioning, 65 percent of the locally-operated primary health care clinics and 64 percent of the primary health care facilities ran by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) have been closed down.
So far 16 health workers have been killed and thirty injured on duty, he added.
Peeperkorn also pointed out that there is an increasing number of respiratory tract infections and cases of diarrhea due to deteriorating water and sanitary conditions at the overcrowded shelters and hospitals.
Palestinians carry an injured man out of the destruction following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Oct 27, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)
Emergency session resumed
The UN General Assembly on Thursday resumed its 10th Emergency Special Session on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
General Assembly President Dennis Francis, in his opening remarks, condemned both the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct 7 and Israel's indiscriminate targeting of civilians and the destruction of critical infrastructure in Gaza.
The only path to a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace is a negotiated two-state solution, consistent with international law, the UN Charter, and relevant UN resolutions - a solution that fulfills Israel's legitimate needs for security and that fulfills the state of Palestine's legitimate aspirations for an independent state, said Francis
"The brutality of the Hamas assaults is shocking and unacceptable, and has no place ... in our world," he said. "The ceaseless bombardment of the Gaza Strip by Israel and its consequences are deeply alarming. The right of self-defense does not and cannot lawfully give license to undertake indiscriminate and disproportionate reprisal."
Francis said all parties to this conflict must abide by international humanitarian law and immediately create the necessary conditions to allow for an opening of a humanitarian corridor to the Gaza Strip.
"We must ensure that urgently needed life-saving assistance reaches those in need - from the delivery of basic foodstuff to the safe passage of humanitarian and medical staff. Any action to the contrary - to deprive the people of Gaza of unimpeded access to essential livelihood supplies - would be a clear violation of their human rights and an affront to international humanitarian law," he said.
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"We, the United Nations, cannot allow the fundamental principles of human rights and of international law to be compromised. As the United Nations, we are obliged to uphold them - without any conditions, or reservations, and certainly without any exceptions," Francis noted.
At this juncture, the most immediate step is clear: "the violence must cease, and further bloodshed must be prevented," he said, calling for the prompt and unconditional release of all hostages; an immediate, unconditional humanitarian cease-fire; and an immediate, unconditional opening of corridors of humanitarian assistance and relief.
The only path to a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace is a negotiated two-state solution, consistent with international law, the UN Charter, and relevant UN resolutions - a solution that fulfills Israel's legitimate needs for security and that fulfills the state of Palestine's legitimate aspirations for an independent state, said Francis.
He urged all parties to set aside their animosities and focus instead on averting war by prioritizing saving lives.
Smoke and fire rise from buildings as people gather amid the destruction in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Gaza City on Oct 26, 2023, as battles continue between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (PHOTO / AFP)
"I urge the (UN) membership to use today's session not to further fan the flames of hate, division and revenge. Let us seize the opportunity, instead, to unify our purpose and our actions to save lives and to end violence."
The resumed Emergency Special Session is expected to run into Friday and a resolution tabled by Jordan is expected to be voted on.
The UN Security Council, which holds the primary responsibility for international peace and security, has failed to adopt any resolution on the latest escalation in the past two weeks.
In an emotional speech, Palestine's UN ambassador Riyad Mansour said Israel's war on Gaza is not defendable.
Some 7,000 Palestinians have been killed since Oct 7, 70 percent of them were women and children. Almost all of the killed were civilians, he said."Is this the war some of you are defending? Can this war be defended," he asked Western delegations. "These are crimes. This is barbarianism."
In an emotional speech, Palestine's UN ambassador Riyad Mansour said Israel's war on Gaza is not defendable
Mansour called on delegations to vote in favor of the Jordanian-drafted resolution.
"Vote to stop the killing. Vote for humanitarian aid to reach those whose very survival depends on it. Vote to stop this madness," he said. "Choose justice, not vengeance. Choose peace, not more wars. Vote to put an end to two, almost three weeks of the worst double standards we have seen in decades, to restore some credibility of this place and the rules it is supposed to embody."
"Lives are hanging in the balance. And every life is sacred. Please save lives, save lives, save lives," said the ambassador.
Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, who spoke on behalf of the Arab Group, said the draft resolution his country is putting forward seeks what the United Nations was established to achieve: peace and compliance with international law.
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"Let's make a collective cry. Cry out against more bloodletting. Let's unite for peace. Let's unite for justice. Let's unite for the right of every Palestinian and every Israeli child to live free from the horrors of war, free from fear, looking for a life full of promise and full of opportunity," he said.
"For the sake of Palestinian people and for the sake of Israeli people, vote YES," said Safadi. "Let the passing of the draft resolution be a message to Palestinians, suffering from the inferno of this Israeli war on them. Let it be a message that the international community sees them, feels their pain, and believes that Palestinian lives matter too."
