New York (Union)
The heads of 19 UN and international agencies called on the international community to “prevent a worse catastrophe” in Gaza, as civilians in the Strip are exposed to extreme danger with a lack of safe shelter.
The Inter-Agency Standing Committee said in a joint statement, “In less than 5 months after the attacks that occurred last October, tens of thousands of Palestinians, most of them women and children, were killed and wounded in the Gaza Strip.” She added, “More than three-quarters of the population have been forced to leave their homes several times, and face severe shortages of food, water, and sanitation.”
On the health front, the statement explained more than 370 attacks targeting health care facilities in Gaza since October 7th. The statement warned that “diseases are rampant, famine looms on the horizon, water is scarce, basic infrastructure has been destroyed, food production has stopped, hospitals have turned into battlefields, and a million children face daily trauma.”
He pointed out that “the city of Rafah, which has become the final destination for more than a million displaced and hungry people crammed into a small piece of land, has turned into another battlefield in this brutal conflict.”
In this context, the Joint Permanent Committee, the highest platform for humanitarian coordination in the United Nations system, identified 10 requirements in order to avoid a worse disaster in Gaza and save the humanitarian operation so that they can at least provide basic needs in the Strip.
The requirements include “an immediate ceasefire, the protection of civilians and infrastructure, the release of hostages, the opening of reliable entry points that allow the entry of aid from all possible crossings, and the provision of unhindered security guarantees for the widespread distribution of aid throughout the Strip.”
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