Jan Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, a humanitarian organisation, has said that nowhere in the world have so many people been trapped under such an intensive bombardment for this length of time than in Gaza.
“More than 10,000 Palestinian children have already died, surpassing the child casualties in all other recent global wars. A grim testament to the unparalleled tragedy unfolding in Gaza,” Egeland said in a statement.
“For over three months, the agony of innocent Palestinians in Gaza has been broadcast around the globe, and world leaders have continually failed to prevent the immense civilian suffering, despite all the promises from the very countries that provide arms and support for the Israeli assault,” he added.
Egeland said an immediate and sustained ceasefire is the “only hope for an end to this haemorrhaging of human life, and for a resumption of lifesaving relief across Gaza”.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has posted a video that went through 100 days of war in Gaza in 100 seconds.
In a statement posted on X, UNRWA said, “The largest displacement of the Palestinian people since 1948.”
It added, “An entire generation of children is traumatised, thousands have been killed, maimed, and orphaned. People live through the unliveable.”
The Palestinian Authority’s (PA’s) Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said that Israel is using a self-defence argument to render Gaza uninhabitable.
It also said Israel was using humanitarian aid to the besieged coastal enclave “as a political tool.”
“Israel is using aid and humanitarian needs for bargaining and bartering to achieve political purposes, which should be repudiated by the international community,” the ministry said in a statement.
Relief organisations have said the aid Israel is allowing into Gaza is not enough to meet its people’s needs.
On the other hand, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 94 houses have been destroyed by Israeli forces across the occupied West Bank since October 7, displacing 602 Palestinians, including 263 children.
About 94 percent of the displacement was reported in the refugee camps of Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarem.
This represents 65 percent of all displacement reported due to the destruction of homes during Israeli military operations since January 2023 (908 people), OCHA said.
Additionally, OCHA disclosed that Israeli forces have killed 30 Palestinians in West Bank so far this year.
It said that the death toll includes seven children.
Three children were killed by Israeli forces on Sunday, including a 14-year-old Palestinian in Ein el-Sultan refugee camp in Jericho and two 17-year-old boys near the Beit El settlement in the al-Bireh area outside Ramallah.
Last year, Israeli forces killed 507 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, the largest annual death toll since OCHA started recording casualties in 2005.
Israel’s Cabinet Passes Amended Budget
In other developments, Israel’s Ministry of Finance disclosed that the Israeli cabinet has passed an amended 2024 state budget, adding 55 billion shekels ($15bn) of extra spending in light of the Gaza war.
The measure passed after ministerial opposition to across-the-board budget cuts.
“This is the war budget, which also takes care of the needs of our reservists, their families, the self-employed and government ministries and the needs of the public,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said before the vote.
“We are increasing the health budget and adding a billion shekels [$270m] to it for mental health, an important need,” he stated.
“There are increases to the education budget, the welfare budget, the internal security budget, but most importantly, the defence budget, which is simply essential for victory and for our future,” he added.
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