Gaza: ‘Every day without a ceasefire will bring more tragedy’

This article is published in association with United Nations.

The head of UN Palestine refugee agency UNRWA again underlined the need for a ceasefire in Gaza in a statement posted on the social media platform X on Thursday. 

Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini stressed that no place and no one in Gaza has been safe since the war began in October 2023.

“As the year begins, we got reports of yet another attack on Al Mawasi with dozens of people killed and injured,” he said, calling this “another reminder that there is no humanitarian zone let alone a ‘safe zone’”.

He warned that “every day without a ceasefire will bring more tragedy.”

Media under attack

Separately, UNRWA recalled that the Israeli authorities continue to prevent international media from operating and reporting inside Gaza. 

“Access to international journalists to report freely from Gaza must be granted,” the agency said.

Relatedly, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said it is deeply concerned by the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) suspension of the operations of the Al Jazeera news network in the occupied West Bank.

The Qatar-based channel was accused of broadcasting “inciting materials” that were “deceiving and stirring strife”, according to international media reports which cited the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The development comes amid the “troubling trend” of suppressing freedom of opinion and expression in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, OHCHR said, urging the PA “to reverse course and respect its international law obligations.”

Rights experts deplore ‘blatant disregard’ for health 

Meanwhile, two independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council appealled for an end to what they called “the blatant disregard of the right to health in Gaza” following the raid last week on Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north and the arbitrary arrest and detention of its director.

Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng, Special Rapporteur on the right to physical and mental health, and Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, voiced their concerns in a statement issued on Thursday.

“For well over a year into the genocide, Israel’s blatant assault on the right to health in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory is plumbing new depths of impunity,” they said.

Healthcare under fire

The experts were “horrified and concerned” by reports from North Gaza, “especially the attack on health workers including the last remaining of 22 now destroyed hospitals: Kamal Adwan Hospital.”

They expressed grave concern over the fate of the hospital’s director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, describing him as “yet another doctor to be harassed, kidnapped and arbitrarily detained by the occupation forces, in his case for defying evacuation orders to leave his patients and colleagues behind.”

They said such action “is part of a pattern by Israel to continuously bombard, destroy and fully annihilate the realisation of the right to health in Gaza.”

UN News

Dr Hossam Abu Safiya, Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital.

Concern for hospital director

The experts noted that before Dr. Abu Safiya was kidnapped, his son was killed in front of him.  

Furthermore, the doctor “was recently injured while on duty as a result of Israel’s genocidal acts,” yet “continued to provide care while the hospital was under continuous bombardment and threat.”    

“More disturbing reports indicate that Israeli forces allegedly conducted extrajudicial executions of some people in the vicinity of the hospital, including a Palestinian man who was reportedly holding a white flag,” they added.

Not a target

More than 1,057 Palestinian health and medical professionals have been killed so far and many have been arbitrarily arrested, according to the independent experts.

“The heroic actions of Palestinian medical colleagues in Gaza, teach us what it means to have taken the medical oath. They are also a clear signal of a depraved humanity that has allowed a genocide to continue for well over a year,” they said.

Stressing that medical personnel enjoy special protections under international humanitarian law, the rights experts said “they are not legitimate targets for attack, nor can they legitimately be detained for exercising their profession.”

End assaults and arbitrary arrests

The experts called on Israel, as the occupying power, to respect and protect the right to life and to health in Gaza and the whole Occupied Palestinian Territory.

“They must also ensure the immediate release of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, and all other arbitrarily detained healthcare workers. May they be the last arbitrarily arrested Palestinians, and may the new year begin under different auspices.” 

About UN rapporteurs

Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, which is based in Geneva. They are mandated to monitor and report on specific country situations or thematic issues.

These experts are not UN staff, do not receive a salary, and serve in their individual capacity, independent of the UN Secretariat.