UN Agencies Call for Global Action to Save People of Gaza
Aid trucks lined up,
prevented from entering Gaza
On April 7, the heads of six UN Agencies issued a joint statement on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The agencies are the Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). They warned of severe aid shortages and hunger since Israel resumed its all-out aggression on March 18. "For over a month, no commercial or humanitarian supplies have entered Gaza," the agency heads said in a press statement. "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," they added.
The agencies reported that at least 1,000 children were killed or injured during the first week after the Israeli genocide resumed, which is the highest one-week child death toll in the past year. The statement points out, "No one is safe. At least 408 humanitarian workers, including over 280 from UNRWA, have been killed since October 2023."
"With the tightened Israeli blockade on Gaza now in its second month, we appeal to world leaders to act – firmly, urgently and decisively – to ensure the basic principles of international humanitarian law are upheld," the agencies write.
Regarding the killing of humanitarian workers, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) called for an independent international inquiry into the "deliberate killing" of 15 paramedics and emergency humanitarian personnel in Gaza by Israeli Occupation Forces on March 23. Speaking at a press conference in Ramallah on April 7, PRCS President Younis al-Khatib demanded that Israel be punished for its crimes and said merely speaking of international law and the Geneva Conventions is not sufficient. Khatib said an independent international investigation commission is needed "to establish the facts and hold those responsible accountable."
(UN, Al Mayadeen. Photo: Quds)
This article was published in
Volume 55 Number 6 - April 11, 2025
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2025/Articles/TS55067.HTM
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