UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, as he warned that the bombarded Gaza Strip was becoming a “graveyard for children.”
“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,” he said.
“The nightmare in Gaza is more than a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis of humanity.”
Hamas militants stormed into Israel on October 7, killing some 1,400 people, mostly civilians, including through targeting homes and revellers at a music festival.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, 10,222 people have died including more than 4,000 children in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched its strikes in retaliation.
Eighty-eight UN relief workers have been killed so far, UN agency chiefs said.
“For almost a month, the world has been watching the unfolding situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory in shock and horror at the spiralling numbers of lives lost and torn apart,” the heads of 18 UN organisations including Unicef and the World Health Organization said in a rare joint statement late Sunday.
“Scores of aid workers have been killed since October 7 including 88 UNRWA colleagues – the highest number of United Nations fatalities ever recorded in a single conflict,” they said, referring to the UN relief and works agency for Palestinian refugees.
Israel-Gaza war: Palestinian death toll above 10,000, UN says ‘enough is enough’
Israel-Gaza war: Palestinian death toll above 10,000, UN says ‘enough is enough’
During the last heavy conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in 2014, 11 UNRWA staff were killed, according to the United Nations.
The UNRWA currently employs some 13,000 staff in the Gaza Strip, a territory that is home to 2.4 million people.
The agency chiefs expressed revulsion at the toll on both sides since the October 7 cross-border attack by Hamas Palestinian militants from Gaza into Israel, which left about 1,400 people dead, mainly civilians, Israeli authorities say.