War in Middle East - A UN representative reports terrible impressions in Gaza
After an Israeli air raid in the southern Gaza Strip, UN representative Scott Anderson spoke of some of the most distressing scenes he had witnessed in the Gaza Strip over the past nine months. At the Chan Junis Hospital he visited, there were not enough beds, many patients were being treated on the floor and without adequate disinfection facilities, the director of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in Gaza stated.
Desperate parents had told him they had been drawn into the humanitarian zone in the hope that their children would be safe there, Anderson said. He urged protection for civilians at all times. A ceasefire was urgently needed, and the remaining hostages in the Gaza Strip had to be released.
The Israeli army had attacked the leader of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. Dozens of other people were also killed in the attack. It was initially unclear whether Deif had been killed or injured in the air raid.
According to Palestinian reports, at least 90 people were killed in the Israeli military operation. At least 300 more were injured in the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, according to the health authority controlled by Hamas. These reports could not be independently verified at first.
A representative of the Israeli military later admitted in a briefing that the targeted object was located in the humanitarian zone west of Chan Junis. "But it was a fortified, guarded Hamas base, occupied by terrorists", he added. These statements could also not be independently verified at the time.
- The UN strongly condemned the air raid in the Gaza Strip, calling for an immediate end to the violence between Hamas and Israel in the Palestinian territories.
- Scott Anderson, the UN's Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, urged both parties to uphold international humanitarian law and protect civilians, including refugees, in the Gaza Strip.
- Amidst the ongoing conflict, the UN relief efforts in the Gaza Strip have been severely strained, with resources stretched thin and the Palestinian population relying on aid to survive.
- The UN has repeatedly called on Israel and Hamas to respect the ceasefire, urging them to engage in peace talks to resolve the long-standing conflicts in the Gaza Strip and the broader Middle East region.
- The UN Secretary-General appealed to the international community to provide urgent humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, emphasizing that the situation in the Gaza Strip remains a critical humanitarian crisis and requires immediate international attention and intervention.
