A number of UN organisations are once more raising concerns about the swift decline in humanitarian circumstances in a large portion of Gaza and the number of civilian casualties resulting from almost a year of Israeli military actions.
The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) stated in a comprehensive report that it “found close to 70 per cent to be children and women, indicating a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law” on the part of the Israeli military in Gaza during the first six months of the conflict. The continuation of these attacks “demonstrates an apparent indifference to the death of civilians and the impact of the means and methods of warfare selected,” the report said.
It added that of the confirmed deaths, 80% were killed in residential buildings or similar housing, of which 44% were children and 26% were women. OHCHR said it found a pattern showing “high numbers of babies and young children, women, older persons, and families killed together in residential buildings.”
UN Human Rights chief Volker Türk said the report showed that civilian casualties were “a direct consequence of the failure to comply with fundamental principles of international humanitarian law – namely the principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack.” He said that pattern continued “unabated, over one year after the start of the war.”
CNN has approached the Israeli government for a response to the OHCHR report. The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, said Friday that “at least 64 attacks against schools – almost two every day – were registered in the Gaza Strip last month.” An estimated 128 people were reportedly killed in the strikes, many of them children, it added.
UNICEF said that, according to the latest estimates, nearly half of the attacks recorded in October happened in northern Gaza, “where renewed intense bombardments, mass displacement, and lack of sufficient aid are pushing children to the brink.” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Saturday that the report was “deeply alarming.” In a post on X, he said: “We call for an immediate scale-up and safe access for humanitarian aid — primarily food and medicines for severe malnutrition — within days not weeks.”
The Israeli agency that handles the transfer of aid to Gaza rejected the report warning of the prospect of famine in northern Gaza, saying such reports in the past “have been systematically based on organizations with vested interests and partial, inaccurate knowledge.”
Source: Here
