UN aid official warns of ‘breakdown of law and order’ in Gaza
Andrea De Domenico, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), says: “The rule of the strongest is becoming the only rule that is prevailing.”
Delivering aid has become increasingly more difficult, he added. “Two days ago, we had the worst of all of our experiences in bringing in commodities where almost 70 percent of the convoy that we were able to put together for that day did not reach the final destination because it was intercepted by mostly, I think, by criminals but also by desperate people.
“The narrowing space that is left for civilians to conglomerate and live is becoming more and more limited and more and more crowded. It’s impossible as of today to move from al-Mawasi, where … some of our premises are, to go to Khan Younis or Deir el-Balah without literally navigating through a wave of people that are everywhere.
“A movement that normally would take 10 minutes, 15 minutes maximum, is taking simply one hour because people are everywhere.”
‘We’re living in the middle of sewage’
Earlier we reported that a sewage pipeline burst in Gaza’s second-largest city of Khan Younis has made the situation even worse for displaced people seeking shelter from Israeli attacks.
“All the tents were flooded with sewage water. This is no life,” said Abdullah Barbakh, surrounded by bombed-out buildings in the Palestinian city devastated by months of war.
“I implore all Arab countries and the entire world to see what is happening to us. We’re living in the middle of sewage.”
Khan Younis was a focus of the fighting in the early months of the war, but now it has become a hub for displaced people, many of whom have been forced to flee multiple times. About 1.7 million people are now sheltering in Khan Younis and in Gaza’s central areas.
Palestinians seek to join Gaza genocide case at World Court
Palestinian officials filed an application with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to join South Africa as a party in its Gaza genocide case against Israel.
In a statement, the ICJ – also known as the World Court – said Palestinian authorities “filed … an application for permission to intervene and a declaration of intervention in the [South Africa v Israel] case”.
South Africa brought its case against Israel in January, accusing it of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Its case in The Hague argues Israel violated the 1948 Genocide Convention, established in the aftermath of the Holocaust, which mandates all countries prevent the recurrence of such crimes.
