Gaza at a ‘critical juncture’ as top UN officials call for a ceasefire now

This article is published in association with United Nations.

The UN Secretary-General has said the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar should lead to a swift end to the year-long war in Gaza, the release of all hostages and unimpeded delivery of aid, his Deputy Spokesperson told reporters on Friday.

“Although he does not comment on events of this nature, the Secretary-General is interested that this now leads to an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza,” Farhan Haq told the daily press briefing at UN Headquarters.

Increasingly dire in the north

Providing the latest updates, he said the UN humanitarian office, OCHA, reported conditions in the north as increasingly dire and dangerous for civilians, with families trying to survive under heavy bombardment.

The UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, confirmed a third attack by Israel on the agency’s facilities in the last week, Mr. Haq said, adding that scores of people were killed after strikes hit a school in Jabalia.

OCHA warned that the ongoing lack of access to the Jabalia refugee camp is having life-threatening impacts. On Friday, the UN agency had submitted an urgent request to the Israeli authorities to facilitate the evacuation of a few dozen people reportedly trapped under the rubble, he said.

“In previous instances, OCHA accompanied rescue teams whose access was facilitated too late, resulting in only dead bodies being recovered,” the Deputy Spokesperson said.

The UN and partners stand ready to provide water and food, he stressed, noting that the World Food Programme (WFP) could only reach about 100,000 people in the north due to lack of access and fighting.

The UN food agency reported that on Tuesday, only 12 trucks carrying wheat flour entered northern Gaza after two weeks of closed crossings, with enough supplies to feed only 9,200 families.

“We call on the Israeli authorities to allowed safe, sustained and unimpeded access to Jabalia and all areas of the north where people are in desperate need of assistance,” Mr. Haq said, emphasising that aid organizations must be able to carry out their lifesaving work across the Strip.

Much of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are displaced, according to several UN agencies.

Polio campaign moves south

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been delivering supplies in the south to health facilities ahead of the second phase of the polio vaccination campaign that starts on Saturday.

The UN agency and partners aim to provide 293,000 children in southern Gaza with the second dose of the vaccine.

More than 284,000 children will receive vitamin A supplements, added the Deputy Spokesperson.

War ‘continues to inflict horrors’

The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process said on Friday that the war in Gaza “continues to inflict horrors” on the population there while the hostages taken by Hamas more than a year ago “remain held in terrible conditions”.

Tor Wennesland also took note of Thursday’s killing of the head of Hamas in Gaza acknowledging his role in the “horrific attacks” of 7 October 2023.

He said today was a “critical juncture” and the warring parties must seize the moment to silence the guns and release all hostages: “I call on all sides to engage in dialogue and reach a deal.”

UNICEF: Aid drying up

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson in Gaza James Elder said earlier on Friday that only 80 trucks carrying food and water assistance had been allowed into the north since 2 October.

He warned that one year on from the first forced evacuations in the Strip, the international community is “watching history repeat itself” and warned against a “déjà vu, with even darker shadows”.

Many Palestinians hope that the death of Mr. Sinwar, the Hamas leader, will bring a halt to the fighting in Gaza, Mr. Elder added, after Israel confirmed that the militant had been killed in southern Gaza earlier this week.

“I had multiple reports from civilians on the ground, from young people I had met who thought this would be the end of the war and whose emotions responded because they felt now the war would finally be over,” the UNICEF spokesperson said.

‘No capacity’ to cope

Displaced families are being forced into “so called humanitarian zones” which in reality do not provide safety as they are also being bombed, the UNICEF spokesperson maintained. One of these zones, Al Mawasi in the south of the enclave, now has a population of 730,000, up from 9,000 before the war.

With a surface of around three per cent of the Gaza Strip, it “would be the most densely populated city on the planet” were it a city and not sand hills. With no capacity to host a population this size, Al Mawasi has suffered “multiple mass casualty events”, Mr. Elder said.

“Today, in the south, where families are forced to flee, it’s desperately overcrowded,” the UNICEF spokesperson warned, adding that current conditions include a “lethal” lack of access to sanitation, water and shelter.

With each repetition of last year’s events, “the situation for children in Gaza is at rock bottom,” he said.

UNRWA

Israeli forces struck tents sheltering displaced civilians near Al-Aqsa Hospital in an area where people from northern Gaza were told to relocate.

UNRWA chief slams latest effort to discredit agency

The head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, on Friday criticised the release of “unchecked information” which is being used by some news outlets to once again discredit the relief agency.

In a post on X, Philippe Lazzarini noted that earlier on Friday, reports had circulated on social media and Israeli media outlets that an UNRWA staffer had been killed alongside the Hamas leader, based on the discovery of a document purporting to be his passport.

“I confirm that the staff member in question is alive. He currently lives in Egypt where he travelled with his family in April through the Rafah border,” said Mr. Lazzarini adding that it is “time to put an end to disinformation campaigns”.