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“Let me be clear: defending civilians in occasions of battle shouldn’t be an aspiration or a great; it’s an obligation and a dedication to our shared humanity,” UNRWA Commissioner Normal Philippe Lazzarini stated in an announcement.
Relentless air strikes and bombardments, coupled with evacuation orders from Israel, have displaced practically a million folks in Gaza, he stated. Many civilians have been killed and injured.
Overcrowded shelters
Some 500,000 individuals are presently sheltering in UNRWA amenities, and people within the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah have turn out to be overcrowded. Many have taken refuge in UNRWA buildings that weren’t set as much as be shelters the place the residing circumstances are simply untenable.
Mr. Lazzarini stated that for the reason that struggle started on 7 October, UNRWA has been frequently offering the coordinates of all its amenities throughout the Gaza Strip to all related events. However, no less than 35 have been impacted to this point, and a few had been instantly hit.
17 colleagues killed
“We’re devastated to obtain steady stories of civilians killed in Gaza, together with at UNRWA,” he stated.
“Up to now, 17 of our colleagues have been confirmed killed on this vicious struggle. Very sadly, the precise numbers are more likely to be larger. A few of our employees had been killed with their households whereas sleeping of their beds at residence.”
Obligation to guard
Mr. Lazzarini recalled “the non-negotiable authorized obligations” of combatants to guard civilians always, and to chorus from assaults on civilian amenities “together with colleges, hospitals, locations of worship, and civilians’ houses, together with these of UNRWA employees.”
He echoed the UN Secretary-Normal calls on all events to achieve an pressing humanitarian ceasefire, saying “that is the one method out of this mayhem; every other method will plunge Gaza – and the world – deeper into fathomless, darkish depths.”
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