Haq revealed that since the onset of Israel’s siege in the north, ‘some 63,000 people have been newly displaced from North Gaza Governorate to Gaza City.’
The Deputy Spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General, Farhan Haq said on Thursday that the nearly three-week Israeli siege in the north of Gaza demonstrates that this war disregards the basics of international law.
Haq told a press briefing quoting reports by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), that heavy fighting continues to kill and injure Palestinians in the north of Gaza and damage civilian infrastructure, particularly in and around Jabalya.
“OCHA has received reports that families in Tel Al Zaatar, northeast of the Jabalya refugee camp – as well as west of the camp in Al Faluja – remain trapped and unable to move,” the deputy spokesman said.
He continued: “Between 50,000 and 70,000 people are estimated to remain in Jabalya.”
Haq revealed that since the onset of the bloody Israeli military operation in the north began on October 6, “some 63,000 people have been newly displaced from North Gaza Governorate to Gaza City.”
The UN official told reporters that Palestinians also continue to flee the Beit Lahia area, “with reports of people there moving westward through Jaffa Street.”
He stressed nonetheless that many are still stranded in their homes surrounded by heavy Israeli bombardment.
On the Palestinian Civil Defense operations in the besieged north of Gaza, Haq confirmed that its operations have been completely halted due to the Israeli occupation military offensive “leaving the entire population there without humanitarian rescue services.”
He stressed that reports from the civil defense indicate that its staff has been targeted and several “were either injured or detained by Israeli forces.”
Haq revealed that the only firefighting vehicle in the north of the strip has “reportedly caught fire after it was shelled.”
The deputy spokesperson called on all “parties to the conflict” to protect Palestinian civilians, humanitarian aid workers and first responders, stressing that their work must be “facilitated and not targeted.”
Women, Peace and Security
On the topic of women, peace and security, the UN official told reporters that the Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, briefed Thursday morning Security Council member states on the matter, stressing that the last year has been particularly difficult in Gaza.
He quoted Mohammed as saying that the extremely difficult situation in the Strip is due to the killing and injuring of thousands of Palestinian women and girls during the raging Israeli war.
“She reiterated the Secretary-General’s call to protect civilians, civilian infrastructure and to uphold international law,” he said.
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Have we Become So Numb?
The UN official admitted in a Q&A following the briefing neglecting to mention the death of yet another United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff member on Wednesday when asked by one of the reporters on the incident.
“Farhan, why don’t we mention this anymore? Have we become so numb to the fact that Israel is killing UN personnel and there are now 233 that are dead that we don’t even mention anymore?” the reporter asked.
The deputy spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, I did neglect to add this amid the other notices that we’ve had, but the sad truth is that there’s so much devastation to report that as you see.”
He confirmed nonetheless following the exchange that an UNRWA driver was killed along his brother, by the Israeli occupation army after it targeted his car, which was marked as a UN vehicle.
On the topic of Israeli allegations of a group of Palestinian journalists being members of the resistance movement and the implications of such claims, the UN spokesperson said that the UN “stand against any efforts to harm or to threaten journalists.”
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Gaza Genocide Continues
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza. Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 42,847 Palestinians have been killed, and 100,544 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
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Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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