The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has called on world leaders to bring an end to the unimaginable suffering and the “unrelenting tragedy” in the Middle East on the anniversary of Hamas’s attacks on southern Israel.
It noted that scores of Israeli captives remain in Gaza while thousands of Palestinians have been arbitrarily detained and reportedly subjected to torture.
Civilians in Gaza, meanwhile, face extreme deprivation, with limited or no access to healthcare, food, electricity or humanitarian aid.
Joyce Msuya, the acting Undersecretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator stated, “No statistics or words can fully convey the extent of the physical, mental and societal devastation that has taken place.”
“But we know what must happen: The hostages must be released and treated humanely. Civilians must be protected and their essential needs met. Palestinians arbitrarily detained must be released.
“Humanitarian workers must be safeguarded and their work facilitated. Perpetrators must be held accountable for any serious violations of international humanitarian law. And the assault on Gaza must stop.”
Joyce Msuya
Gaza’s Health Ministry disclosed that Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 41,909 Palestinians and wounded 97,303 since October 7, 2023.
It added that the toll includes 39 deaths in the previous 24 hours.
The casualty figures are believed to be far higher with thousands of bodies buried in the debris of collapsed buildings and unrecoverable during the Israeli onslaught.
Also, Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur for violence against women and girls, stated that over the past year, women in Gaza have gone through “the most bloody chapter” of inhumane Israeli mistreatment, which includes collective punishment, incarceration, sexual violence and deliberate extermination.
“Women and children have been systematically dehumanised – where children are seen as not innocent and where women’s wombs are seen as something that has to be attacked and exterminated.”
Reem Alsalem
Alsalem noted that this is being carried out through large-scale violence, attacks on health infrastructure amounting to reproductive violence, “and forcing women to leave their babies behind” when Israeli troops forcefully evacuate hospitals, in addition to starving lactating mothers.
UNGA Speaker Calls For End To Human Suffering
Philemon Yang, the President of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, marked the one-year anniversary of the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel by calling for an end the human suffering in the Middle East.
“We need an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all [captives] and a return to dialogue with a view to finding diplomatic solutions to the conflicts in the region.”
Philemon Yang
The Cameroonian politician also said that no sustainable peace would be achieved militarily as he called for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Meanwhile, Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli diplomat, noted that there’s little thought about the nearly 42,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza over the past year.
He told a news agency that for the first few months, Israelis were rarely aware of what was going on in Gaza, adding that the scope of death and destruction being inflicted was not accurately portrayed in the Israeli media.
He stressed that as more images emerged from war-battered Gaza over time, “Israelis’ positions became more hardened.”
Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to bring back all captives in Gaza as Israel marks the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attack.
Netanyahu and West Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion visited the October 7 memorial for civilians and soldiers who have died since that date.
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