UN rapporteur says ‘shocking’ 40,000 deaths in Gaza were preventable
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese says the “shocking” death toll in Gaza, which has reached a landmark 40,000 people, was predictable and avoidable as United Nations experts have long issued warnings and called for international action to stop the violence.
Albanese issued a report saying there were “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel has been committing genocide and the ICJ declared the accusation to be “plausible”. In spite of this, the UN Security Council and other international bodies have failed to stop the conflict.
“The moral abyss in which [Israel has] fallen is hard to comprehend,” Albanese told Al Jazeera, adding that the war in Gaza points to “an epic failure of the system of international law that was built after World War II to prevent and punish crimes such as this”.
The conflict also shed light on the “hypocrisy” in the legal system, where “a few countries have the power to determine to whom international law can be applied and to whom it cannot”.
Loss of life in Gaza ‘unimaginable’, aid group says
US-based humanitarian organisation Mercy Corps CEO says it is hard to “fully comprehend” the death toll from Israel’s war in Gaza, which has now crossed 40,000.
“These are not just numbers – each person killed was someone’s son, daughter, mother, father, or grandparent,” Tjada D’Oyen McKenna said in a statement.
“The scale of loss is unimaginable yet shows no sign of stopping while conflict, preventable hunger, malnutrition, disease, and illness continue to claim lives in Gaza every day. It is time for those with the power to end this carnage to take action.”
Following today's announcement by the local Health Ministry that more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, @mercycorps CEO @Tjada says:
"It is difficult to fully comprehend the death toll in Gaza. 40,000 lives and futures extinguished by bombs, bullets, and…
— Gabriel Elizondo (@elizondogabriel) August 15, 2024
40,000 killed in Gaza a ‘source of eternal global shame’: Islamic Relief
The killing of 40,000 people in Gaza should be “a source of eternal global shame,” Islamic Relief has said, adding that behind every number was a person.
“They include babies, children, mothers, fathers, farmers, shopkeepers, students, teachers, journalists, doctors, aid workers, artists, entrepreneurs, grandparents and much more,” it said in a statement.
“Gaza’s entire society is being killed as the world watches.”
It added that the deaths were “the inevitable consequence of allowing international law to be violated with impunity” and called on governments to suspend their support to Israel, including halting arms sales and trade agreements.
