The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, deplored on Monday the “horrifying civilian death toll in Gaza,” as a result of the 11-month-old devastating Israeli war on the besieged Gaza Strip.
“Today, I returned to Gaza and witnessed firsthand the catastrophic impact of the hostilities. The scale of destruction is immense, the humanitarian needs are colossal and soaring, and civilians continue to bear the brunt of this conflict. I unequivocally condemn the horrifying civilian death toll in Gaza,” Wennesland said in a statement during his visit to the devastated Strip.
The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process stressed the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire to spare the lives of innocents.
“I reiterate my call for an immediate humanitarian and urge all sides to reach an agreement that will bring about an immediate release of all hostages and a humanitarian ceasefire,” he wrote in his statement.
Polio Vaccination Campaign
The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process commended the dedication and courage of the UN staff working in the field in Gaza to provide “critical support to those in need.”
Wennesland revealed that he visited a Polio vaccination center stating that the recurrence of the disease is “yet another threat to the children in the Gaza Strip”, adding that the humanitarian pauses to allow for the ongoing vaccination campaign is a welcome development.
‘Best Vaccine is Peace’ – 87,000 Children Vaccinated against Polio in Gaza
The World Health Organization announced on September 1 that it succeeded in vaccinating over 87,000 children on the first day of a nine-day polio vaccination campaign aimed at reaching at least 90 percent of children in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The vaccination campaign is executed in collaboration with the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
Ongoing Genocide
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, 40,786 Palestinians have been killed, and 94,224 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
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’.
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.
(PC, Anadolu)
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