Heads of multiple UN agencies call for renewal of Gaza ceasefire
Jorge Moreira da Silva, the United Nations undersecretary-general and UNOPS executive director, has joined the heads of six other UN agencies – OCHA, UNICEF, UNRWA, WFP, WHO and IOM – in a statement that calls for an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The statement stressed that no commercial or humanitarian supplies have entered Gaza due to the Israeli siege for more than a month.
“More than 2.1 million people are trapped, bombed and starved again, while, at crossing points, food, medicine, fuel and shelter supplies are piling up, and vital equipment is stuck,” it said.
“Over 1,000 children have reportedly been killed or injured in just the first week after the breakdown of the ceasefire, the highest one-week death toll among children in Gaza in the past year.”
The UN leaders noted in their statement that 25 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme during the ceasefire had to close due to flour and cooking gas shortages a few days ago.
They also stressed that the partially functional health system in Gaza is overwhelmed.
“Essential medical and trauma supplies are rapidly running out, threatening to reverse hard-won progress in keeping the health system operational,” their statement said. “We are witnessing acts of war in Gaza that show an utter disregard for human life.”
Gaza residents say Israel building positions in captured regions
Israeli troops could be seen clearing ground and building watch towers in parts of Gaza they have seized in recent days through the renewed offensive, Reuters news agency reported, quoting local residents about the matter.
The army has issued repeated forced evacuation warnings to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians since it resumed operations in Gaza on March 18, pushing them into a diminishing space limited by the sea.
Zakia Sami, 60, a mother of six from Gaza City, said she could see tanks occupying the high ground as she fled her home after the army ordered the family out of the eastern suburb of Shujayea.
“They have taken over al-Muntar hilltop where we used to go to play with our kids. Now they are stationed there and they can hit any house they want inside Shujayea,” she said.
“Gaza has always been a small place and the Israelis are making it smaller and smaller every day. We are being strangled with no food and with bombs falling on us.”
Israeli envoy to Ethiopia removed from conference on Rwanda genocide
Abraham Ngusi was expelled from the African Union’s headquarters after member states refused to participate in an annual meeting commemorating the victims of the Rwandan genocide with the ambassador, according to Israeli media.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein was quoted as saying: “It is outrageous that at an event commemorating the victims of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda, to which the Israeli ambassador in Addis Ababa was invited, the African Union Commission chairman from Djibouti chose to introduce anti-Israeli political elements.”
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/israeli-ambassador-to-ethiopia-expelled-from-conference-on-rwandan-genocide/
