Nearly 1.4 million displaced Palestinians have been sheltering in 154 UN-run facilities across Gaza in dire conditions.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” as the Israeli genocide in Gaza surpassed 100 days.
“We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. To ensure sufficient aid gets to where it is needed. To facilitate the release of the hostages. To tamp down the flames of wider war because the longer the conflict in Gaza continues, the greater the risk of escalation and miscalculation,” Guterres said at a press briefing in New York on Monday.
The war in Gaza has plunged the 2.2 million Palestinian population in the besieged strip into a humanitarian catastrophe, leaving much of the territory in ruins, according to warnings from the United Nations and aid groups.
Israel has killed 24,469 Palestinians in Gaza while injuring 60,348 others, a figure that will likely keep going up as the genocidal war persists.
The war has displaced 1.9 million people out of Gaza’s 2.2 million population, many of whom have been displaced multiple times, according to the UN.
Nearly 1.4 million displaced Palestinians have been sheltering in 154 UN-run facilities across Gaza in dire conditions.
This has crowded many displaced Palestinians into shelters and struggling to access crucial needs like food, water, fuel, and medical care.
Guterres expressed condemnation for the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, describing it as “beyond words.” He highlighted that the “vast majority” of the UN’s Palestinian staff have fled their homes, with 152 staff members killed since October 7, marking “the largest single loss of life in the history of our organisation.”
With aid deliveries facing significant challenges in reaching the “traumatised people,” Gaza now stands on the brink of “the long shadow of starvation.” Guterres emphasised that “nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
The UN leader also issued a stark warning about the escalating spillover of the war, extending across the Lebanon-Israeli border. He cautioned that this “risks triggering a broader escalation… and profoundly affecting regional stability.”
Separately, Israel has denied access to around 95% of aid missions from delivering aid to northern Gaza within the first two weeks of January, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in its flash update on Monday.
The war, coupled with Israel’s complete siege on Gaza, caused a humanitarian catastrophe and the collapse of the local health sector.
Only six ambulances are left functioning in the entire Gaza Strip, the Palestinian health ministry said Saturday. At least 121 ambulances have been destroyed by Israeli occupation forces since October 7, according to the Gaza authorities.
Just 15 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functioning, including nine in the south and six in the north, according to the World Health Organization.
Doctors in Gaza have been running around the clock to attend to tens of thousands of injured Palestinians within the deteriorating healthcare system.
Israel killed at least 295 healthcare professionals and injured 342 others, according to figures by Euro-Med on Saturday.
