NEW YORK: UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Sunday he was “shocked by harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction” in north Gaza, where Israeli forces are carrying out attacks they say aim to prevent Hamas regrouping.
“The plight of Palestinian civilians trapped in North Gaza is unbearable,” Guterres’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
“The secretary-general is shocked by the harrowing levels of death, injury, and destruction in the north, with civilians trapped under rubble, the sick and wounded going without life-saving healthcare, and families lacking food and shelter.”
The spokesman said that according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, hundreds of people have been killed in recent weeks, and more than 60,000 others were forced to flee.
“Repeated efforts to deliver humanitarian supplies essential to survive — food, medicine, and shelter — continue to be denied by the Israeli authorities, with few exceptions, putting countless lives in peril,” Dujarric said.
“In the name of humanity, the secretary-general reiterates his calls for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and accountability for crimes under international law.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross on Saturday described the civilian population in “horrific circumstances.”
Israel has waged a massive air and ground offensive in northern Gaza since early October.
Hundreds of people have been killed, and tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled to Gaza City in the latest wave of displacement.
Israeli strikes on northern Gaza killed at least 22 people, mostly women and children, Palestinian officials said on Sunday.
The Gaza Health Ministry’s emergency service said 11 women and two children were among the 22 killed in strikes on several homes and buildings in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya.
It said another 15 were wounded.
Aid groups have warned of a catastrophic situation in northern Gaza, which has suffered the heaviest destruction of the war.
Israel has severely limited the entry of basic humanitarian aid in recent weeks, and the three remaining hospitals in the north — one raided over the weekend — say they have been overwhelmed by waves of wounded.
Israel’s offensive has devastated much of Gaza and displaced around 90 percent of its population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.
Hundreds of thousands of people have crowded into squalid tent camps, and aid groups say hunger is rampant.
Israeli spy chief David Barnea was scheduled to head to Qatar for talks to restart negotiations toward a hostage deal.
