Top UN Officials Urge Urgent Action to Save Palestinians in Gaza

TDT | Manama

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In a joint statement, top United Nations officials have called for immediate global action to address the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. The heads of major UN agencies – including OCHA, UNICEF, UNOPS, UNRWA, WFP, and WHO – voiced urgent concerns over the dire conditions facing over 2.1 million people trapped in Gaza, where access to humanitarian aid and supplies remains critically restricted.

For more than a month, no commercial or humanitarian supplies have entered Gaza, leaving residents vulnerable to bombings, starvation, and severe shortages of essential goods. At the crossing points, vital supplies such as food, medicine, fuel, and shelter materials are piling up, unable to reach those in desperate need. Despite international efforts to facilitate aid, the situation remains dire.

The statement highlights the devastating impact on children, with more than 1,000 reportedly killed or injured in the first week following the collapse of the ceasefire – the highest one-week death toll among children in Gaza in the past year. Additionally, the World Food Programme reported that bakeries in Gaza, which had been providing food to the population, have had to close due to severe shortages of flour and cooking gas.

The region’s already fragile health system is overwhelmed, with essential medical and trauma supplies rapidly depleting. This is reversing hard-won progress in maintaining health services, leaving the population vulnerable to further suffering.

While a temporary ceasefire had allowed aid to reach nearly every part of Gaza in 60 days – something that was obstructed for over a year due to ongoing conflict – the situation remains critical. The UN officials stressed that assertions that there is enough food to sustain Gaza's population are far from the reality on the ground, with supplies running extremely low.

In addition to these dire conditions, new Israeli displacement orders have forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee their homes once again, without a safe place to seek refuge. The humanitarian crisis continues to escalate, with at least 408 humanitarian workers, including more than 280 from UNRWA, killed since October 2023.

As the tightened Israeli blockade enters its second month, UN officials are appealing to world leaders to act decisively to uphold international humanitarian law. They called for the protection of civilians, the facilitation of humanitarian aid, the release of hostages, and the renewal of a ceasefire to ensure the survival and dignity of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

The plea from UN leaders marks a critical moment for international diplomacy, urging urgent and firm action to mitigate the escalating human tragedy in Gaza.