UN experts hope ceasefire deal can stop Israel’s ‘genocidal assault’
A group of UN experts, including special rapporteurs and independent experts, have delivered a statement urging all parties to accept the ceasefire deal and expressing dismay that shortly after the deal was announced, “Israel continued bombing Gaza indiscriminately.”
“It is time for all people and illegally detained captives to return home to their loved ones – both the Israeli captives in Gaza and thousands of Palestinians who have been arbitrarily detained and often tortured in Israeli prisons,” the statement read.
“We can only hope that this agreement will end the devastating loss of life, stop the genocidal assault and violence that has tormented millions in occupied Palestinian territory and brought apocalyptic destruction in the Gaza Strip.”
Phase one of the ceasefire deal ‘doesn’t meet the needs of Gaza’: Ex-UN official
Martin Griffiths, the former UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, spoke to Al Jazeera about the ceasefire deal.
“The promises of Israeli withdrawal … must be talked through,” he said, adding that there needs to be a clear indication of when the Israeli authorities will allow aid to enter unimpeded.
However, he said that within the humanitarian community, they are already seeing indications that the Israeli government is already looking for “evidence of scapegoating” and looking to blame Hamas for a breakdown of the deal.
“There’s already a lack of purpose. There is already much more doubt, I think, about moving to phase two,” he said, noting that phase one of the ceasefire “doesn’t meet the needs of Gaza”.
UN chief names new Middle East envoy
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has named former Dutch Foreign Minister Sigrid Kaag as the new UN Middle East envoy, a spokesperson says.
Kaag will also continue in her current role as the UN senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, said deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq.
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