Sigrid Kaag, the United Nations Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator, said the battles in the Gaza Strip have created a vortex of human misery.
Sigrid Kaag also expressed concern over Israel's recent order to evacuate parts of Khan Younis and Rafah areas, calling it an escalation of the Palestinians' suffering.
The United Nations Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator said: “The war has not merely created the most profound of humanitarian crises, it has unleashed a maelstrom of human misery. The public health system, as you know, has collapsed. Schools destroyed. And the disrupted education system threatens acutely future generations. With summer temperatures soaring and severe shortages of basic services such as waste management, sanitation facilities and water supplies, the specter of outbreaks of infectious and communicable diseases looms large. Following the Israeli offensive against Rafah since the 6th of May, over 1 million people have been displaced once again, desperately seeking shelter and safety. 1.9 million people are now displaced across Gaza. And I'm deeply concerned about reports of new evacuation orders issued into the area of Khan Younis. Its impact on the civilian population is deep. In Gaza, nowhere is safe.”
The Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, Fu Cong, also described the situation in the Gaza Strip as critical, saying the method of ending the conflicts has become ineffective.
Fu Cong said: “De-confliction mechanisms have been rendered ineffective, and humanitarian workers have even been denied carrying essential communication equipment such as radios. All above is just the tip of the iceberg of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. We reiterate that hunger cannot be weaponized. Humanitarian issues cannot be politicized. And the human-made exacerbation of the humanitarian disaster is unacceptable.”
The United States and Britain have called on Israel to fulfill its commitments to protect Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip and have also emphasized continuing negotiations to achieve a comprehensive ceasefire.
Stephanie Sullivan, acting deputy ambassador of the United States to the United Nations, said: “In order for humanitarian organizations to be able to safely continue their lifesaving work, the IDF must implement concrete commitments to protect humanitarians and improve the overall security environment inside Gaza. We reiterate that the lack of an effective deconfliction mechanism, nearly nine months into the conflict, is unacceptable and continues to put humanitarian actors at tremendous risk. Colleagues, while we continue to press Israel to improve humanitarian access, we know that the best way to address the crisis is for Hamas to accept the cease fire proposal endorsed by this council in Resolution 2735.”
Barbara Woodward, the United Kingdom's ambassador to the United Nations, said: “A negotiated pause in the fighting that leads to a sustainable ceasefire is the best way, both to secure the release of the hostages, and to enable the major and essential scaling up of humanitarian aid. There is now a deal on the table endorsed by this council to achieve these goals. The onus is now on Hamas to accept it. We also continue to call on Israel to fulfill its commitments to increase the amount of aid getting into Gaza and to meet its obligations to facilitate unhindered humanitarian access. The findings of the IPC famine risk assessment demonstrate that not enough aid is getting into Gaza and reaching those in need. We also call for the immediate reopening of the Rafah crossing to scale up aid through all other crossing points.”
Meanwhile, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations blames the United States for the dire situation in Gaza, adding that America's nine-month full support for Israel has made it impossible to help Palestinian civilians.
Vassily Nebenzia, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, said: “Based on the report that was presented today, it’s become perfectly definitively clear that against the backdrop of the IDF military operation that's been going on for almost nine months now, with comprehensive support from Washington, a sustainable and adequate provision of the necessary assistance to the people of Gaza is simply impossible. The situation on the ground is not only deteriorating, it's putting Gazans on the brink of starvation. And that's not a figure of speech. That's the tragic reality. And this has been clearly pointed out by the WFP [World Food Program], which attested to the fact that 96% of Gazans, that's 2 million people, are in need of food assistance. Almost 500,000 people are already suffering from famine.”
Meanwhile, Israel has recently begun a new phase of its attacks on the Gaza Strip, ordering the residents of Khan Younis to evacuate their homes.