ISLAMABAD: UN chief Antonio Guterres has condemned civilian deaths in Gaza as “unacceptable” and appealed for it to “stop” immediately and for all parties to exercise restraint, Deputy United Nations spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Wednesday. “Israel must abide by its obligations as per international humanitarian law,” Farhan Haq said.
UN Secretary-General Condemns Civilian Deaths in Gaza
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned civilian deaths in Gaza as “unacceptable”. His statement came as Israel’s air force targeted Gaza for a second day on Wednesday and killed at least one Palestinian in an airstrike. Several others were also injured in the latest strikes.
At least 1 Palestinian was killed in an airstrike carried out east of Khan Yunis, and several others were injured, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. Agricultural land close to the border in the strip was also targeted. The Israeli military claimed its jets had hit a Palestinian cell preparing to fire rockets at Israeli towns.
Palestinian also fired dozens of missiles at Israeli towns following Israel’s assassination of 3 leaders thirty-six hours earlier, Arab News reported. Ten civilians were also killed, including kids and women in Gaza. The intensified violence has added to Gaza citizens’ daily suffering.
Rami Lubbad, 33, said he had been waiting over an hour to get some bread. He said that they did not know how long this situation would last. Gaza has been under a strict Israeli lockdown since Tuesday. With the Erez crossing shut down, patients cannot access Jerusalem and West Bank hospitals. Israel has also shut down the only commercial crossing Kerem Shalom, disrupting the entry of fuel and goods.
The Health Ministry in Palestine said that the closure of the Erez crossing prevented 142 patients, most undergoing cancer cure, from reaching hospitals in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The ministry said that the occupation halted patients from reaching specialized medical facilities in violation of international humanitarian law and the 4th Geneva Convention, deliberately depriving them of their treatment rights.
It added that the occupation was not content with seizing the diagnostic medical devices for more than eighteen months and obstructing the entry of drugs. Today it completed the 3rd aspect of its crime against the patients of the Gaza Strip.
