‘Almost
unparalleled suffering’ in Gaza as UN says nearly 70% of those killed are women
and children
Head of the
Norwegian Refugee Council calls for peace process to begin as new figures
reveal civilians have borne the brunt of the war
Sarah Johnson
Fri 8 Nov 2024 16.28 GMT
Nearly 70% of the people killed in the ongoing Gaza conflict
are women and children, according to the UN.
In a new report, the UN human rights office said it had
verified 8,119 of those killed during the first six months of the war in Gaza.
Of the fatalities, 3,588 were children and 2,036 were women. The youngest
victim was a one-day-old boy and the oldest was a 97-year-old woman.
The number is much lower than the 43,000 deaths provided by
Palestinian health authorities for the 13-month conflict, but backs the
assertion that women and children represent a large proportion of those killed.
The new figures came as the secretary general of the
Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland, said people had been pushed “beyond
breaking point” with families, widows and children enduring “almost
unparalleled suffering”.
The UN said the figures indicated “a systematic violation of
the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.”
Of the verified figures, 7,607 were killed in residential
buildings or similar housing, out of which 44% were children, 26% women and 30%
men, said the report released on Friday.
Children aged five to nine represent the single biggest age
category, followed by those aged 10-14, and then those aged up to and including
four.
Civilians have borne the brunt of the attacks in Gaza, said
the report, including through the initial siege by Israeli forces, as well as
repeated mass displacement, the Israeli government’s failure to allow in
humanitarian aid, and continual bombing.
This has caused unprecedented levels of killing, death,
injury, starvation, illness and disease, according to the report which said
many families had been killed together, often in their homes, in Israeli
strikes on residential buildings. The UN said it had verified 484 families that
had lost between five and more than 30 members.
The killing of whole families together in their places of
shelter adds to concerns over breaches of international humanitarian law, the
report said.
The two families with the highest verified number of deaths
were the Al Najjar family, with 138 members killed (in 18 incidents), including
35 women and 62 children, and the Al Astal family with 94 members killed (in
eight incidents), including 33 women and 45 children.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk said: “Our monitoring
indicates that this unprecedented level of killing and injury of civilians is a
direct consequence of the failure to comply with fundamental principles of
international humanitarian law – namely the principles of distinction,
proportionality and precautions in attack. Tragically, these documented
patterns of violations continue unabated, over one year after the start of the
war.”
Israel’s military, which began its offensive in response to
the attack on 7 October 2023 in which Hamas fighters killed about 1,200 people
in southern Israel and seized more than 250 hostages, says it takes care to
avoid harming civilians in Gaza.
The report also highlighted that Hamas and other Palestinian
armed groups had attacked and killed Israeli and foreign civilians, committed
sexual violence, and taken hostages. These acts could amount to war crimes and
crimes against humanity, it added.
During a visit to Gaza, Egeland said he had seen “scene
after scene of absolute despair”, with families torn apart and unable to bury
relatives who had died. He said that Israel, with western-supplied arms, had
“rendered the densely populated area uninhabitable”.
“This is in no way a lawful response, a targeted operation
of ‘self-defence’ to dismantle armed groups, or warfare consistent with
humanitarian law,” he said.
“The families, widows and children I have spoken to are
enduring suffering almost unparalleled to anywhere in recent history,” he
added. “There is no possible justification for continued war and destruction.”
Nearly two million people have been internally displaced in
Gaza, according to the latest estimates from the UN relief agency for
Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), and the population faces widespread shortages of
food, water and medicine.
Families are still forced to move from one area to another.
Areas designated by Israeli forces for evacuation and forcible relocation now
cover 80% of Gaza. Palestinians are thus restricted to 20% of the strip and an
Israeli brigadier general said this week that there was no intention of
allowing people to return to their homes. Experts in humanitarian law have said
that such actions amount to the war crime of forcible transfer.
In northern Gaza, a month-long renewed offensive and
tightened siege has led to desperate conditions, with an estimated 100,000
people completely cut off from humanitarian aid.
The UN has condemned the “unlawful interference with
humanitarian assistance and orders that are leading to forced displacement”.
Most aid remains blocked from leaving crossing points due to
insecurity, active hostilities and widespread destruction. An average of 36
trucks a day crossed into Gaza in October, marking the lowest rate for a year.
Egeland, a humanitarian leader, former foreign minister and
diplomat in Norway, said he witnessed “the catastrophic impact of strangled aid
flows”; adding that people had gone for days without food and drinking water
was nowhere to be found.
“There has not been a single week since the start of this
war when sufficient aid was delivered in Gaza,” he said.
Last week, Israel’s parliament passed bills banning Unrwa
from operating in Israel and the Palestinian territories, designating it a
terror organisation, and cutting all ties between the UN agency and the Israeli
government.
Egeland said the situation in Gaza was “deadly” for all
Palestinians, aid workers and journalists. He said that to prevent tens of
thousands of lives being lost, there should be an immediate ceasefire, the
release of hostages and the start of a peace process.
“Those in power on all sides act with impunity, while
millions across Gaza and the region pay a terrible price,” he said.
“Humanitarians can speak out on what we are seeing, but only those in power can
end this nightmare.”
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário