UN condemns killing of 1,000 people in Gaza since ceasefire collapse

This article is published in association with United Nations.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed grave concern on Wednesday over the human toll resulting from the intensified hostilities in Gaza.  

He condemned the reported killing of more than a thousand people, including women and children, since the collapse of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on 18 March.

In his daily press briefing, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that large-scale Israeli shelling and ground operations have resulted in widespread destruction and the displacement of more than 100,000 Palestinians from Rafah in the past two days alone, most of whom have been displaced multiple times.

Deadly attack on medical personnel

“The Secretary-General is shocked by the attack of the Israeli army on a medical and emergency convoy on 23 March resulting in the killing of 15 medical personnel and humanitarian workers in Gaza,” he said.

Mr. Dujarric stressed that all parties to the conflict must protect medical, humanitarian and emergency workers at all times, and respect and protect civilians, as required by international humanitarian law. He underscored the need to end the denial of life-saving assistance.

Since October 2023, at least 408 aid workers have been killed in Gaza, including 280 UN humanitarian personnel.

Resume the ceasefire

Mr. Dujarric said the Secretary-General honours all humanitarian workers killed in this conflict and demands a full, thorough and independent investigation into these incidents.

The UN chief reiterated his strong condemnation of the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, stressing that there was no justification for the terror attacks or the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

Mr. Guterres renewed his urgent call for the immediate resumption of the ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and unhindered humanitarian access throughout Gaza.

UN rejects any attempt at demographic or territorial change

Mr. Dujarric was asked about the plans Israel has announced to take control of more land in Gaza.

“The Secretary-General also reminds that Security Council resolution 2735 (2024) rejects any attempt at demographic or territorial change in the Gaza Strip, including any actions that reduce the territory of Gaza,” he said.

In this regard, the UN chief is increasingly concerned about inflammatory rhetoric which calls on the Israeli military to “capture extensive territory that will be added to the State of Israel’s security areas.”

‘Even ruins have become a target’

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA), reported on Wednesday that Israeli forces shelled one of its buildings in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

He said in a social media post that the building was previously a health centre and had been badly damaged earlier in the war.  In Gaza, “even ruins have become a target,” he remarked.

Initial reports indicate that the facility was sheltering more than 700 people when it was bombed, and that “among those killed are reportedly nine children, including a two-week-old baby,” Mr. Lazzarini said, noting that displaced families had stayed in the shelter after it was hit because “they have nowhere else to go.”

Investigate all attacks

Since the war began, more than 300 UN buildings have been destroyed or damaged, although the coordinates of these locations have been shared regularly with the parties to the conflict. He said more than 700 people had been killed while seeking UN protection.

Mr. Lazzarini added that too many UNRWA premises have also reportedly been used for military and combat purposes by Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas, or by Israeli forces.

“The total disregard of UN staff, premises or operations is a profound defiance of international law,” he said.

“I call once again for independent investigations to find out the circumstances of each of these attacks and the serious violations. In Gaza, all lines have been crossed over and over again.”

Gaza ‘a death trap’

Jonathan Whittall, acting director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, described the situation in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday as a “war without limits.”

He described what is happening there as “an endless loop of blood, pain, death,” saying “Gaza has become a death trap.”

Mr. Whittall was briefing reporters at UN Headquarters in New York via video link from Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza.

The top official noted that he was not sure what he could say to describe the situation on the ground, but decided against mincing his words especially after having coordinated a mission on Sunday that uncovered the mass grave of a number of humanitarian workers who were killed in Rafah.

The dead paramedics were “still wearing their uniforms, still wearing gloves” and killed while trying to save lives, he said. He added that their ambulances “were hit one by one” as they entered an area where Israeli forces were advancing.

He noted that the grave where they were buried had an emergency light from one of the ambulances. 

Mr. Whittall said he began by highlighting this case as it was emblematic of where the Strip stands today: “What is happening here defies decency, it defies humanity, it defies the law,” he said. “It really is a war without limits.”

He said that forced displacement orders resumed after the collapse of the ceasefire, and 64 per cent of the Gaza Strip is now under active forced displacement orders by Israel or within the so-called “buffer zone.”

One month since Israeli aid blockade began

“Nowhere and no one is safe,” according to Mr. Whittall, who said his colleagues tell him they “just want to die with their families” and that their worst fear is to survive alone.

“We cannot accept that Palestinian civilians are dehumanized to the point of being somehow unworthy of survival,” he said, noting that a month has passed since aid supplies were blocked from entering Gaza.

Responding to reporters’ questions, he said there was nowhere else in the world, to his knowledge, where an entire population of 2.1 million people is under siege, denied all forms of humanitarian aid, and the commercial sector is destroyed and then expected to survive entirely dependent on aid in a besieged and bombarded area.

He added that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was spiraling out of control, with all bakeries supported by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) closed, markets reduced to rubble, ambulance teams being killed, and people living on an aid system which is under attack.

Mr. Whittall emphasized the lack of humanitarian solutions to the problems facing Gaza. He stated that the crisis requires political action that begins with accountability, stressing that aid cannot compensate for political failures.

End the cruelty

“I think it’s important for us to acknowledge that what is happening in Gaza is not going to stay in Gaza,” he warned. “We cannot let the rules-based order be replaced by one set of rules for some people, and another set of rules for others.”

The UN official expressed hope that Member States would use their political and economic influence to enforce international law, that a ceasefire would be reached to stop the slaughter and free the hostages, that “Palestinians would be finally seen as human, and that this cruelty will end.”