The UN pledges to stand with the people of Gaza amid reports that Hamas has accepted the ceasefire agreement
Multiple news agencies reported that Hamas’s supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, confirmed the militant group’s acceptance of what it claimed were Israel’s ceasefire terms in a phone call with Qatar’s prime minister and a senior minister. high of Egypt. The two countries are leading negotiations between the warring parties.
However, the Israeli leadership reportedly pointed out that the agreement offered by Hamas did not meet their demands for an end to the fighting. Israel said it would send a delegation to continue ceasefire negotiations and would also continue operations in Rafah during this time.
‘Make a deal’: Guterres
UN Secretary General António Guterres reiterated his urgent call for both sides “to go further to make a deal a reality and end the current suffering”, his spokesman said in statement.
The Secretary-General also expressed deep concern about signs that a large-scale military operation in Rafah may be imminent.
“We have witnessed a movement of people – many of these people are in desperate humanitarian situations and have been displaced multiple times,” the statement continued.
The Secretary-General also reminded all parties that the protection of civilians is paramount in international humanitarian law.
There was no UNRWA evacuation
Early in the morning after news of Israel’s evacuation order, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA said in a post on X that “an Israeli attack on Rafah would mean more civilian suffering and death. The consequences will be devastating for 1.4 million people.”
“UNRWA will not evacuate: the agency will maintain a presence in Rafah for as long as possible and will continue to provide life-saving aid to the population.”
Children on the ‘edge of survival’
Reflecting that warning, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warning that “a military siege and ground attack on Rafah would pose a catastrophic risk to the 600,000 children” sheltering there.
Many people are “extremely vulnerable and at the brink of survival,” UN agency said in a statement, highlighting the rising violence in Rafah and the fact that potential evacuation corridors “may have been mined or strewn with unexploded ordnance”.
UNICEF emphasized that any military move against Rafah could lead to very high civilian casualties, while destroying “some of the remaining basic services and infrastructure” that people need to survive. exist.
“Hundreds of thousands of children currently cramped in Rafah are injured, sick, malnourished, psychologically traumatized or have disabilities.,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Many people have had to relocate multiple times and lost their homes, parents and relatives. They need to be protected along with the rest of the services they rely on, including health facilities and shelter.”
Listen to our episode below in-depth interview with UNRWA’s Louise Wateridge as fear builds for a full-scale invasion of Rafah:
A call for total famine
In a related development, the head of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) say northern Gaza is currently experiencing “total famine…and it is moving south”.
Cindy McCain’s comments on Sunday echoed serious and repeated concerns from other senior United Nations officials and the international community about aid restrictions and delays imposed by Israeli authorities. put.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini affirmed: “The Israeli government continues to deny humanitarian access to the United Nations.” “In just the past two weeks, we have recorded 10 incidents of shooting at convoys, arresting UN staff, including bullying, stripping them naked, threats with weapons and lengthy delays at checkpoints forcing convoys to move in the dark or stop operations,” he said in a post on X on Sunday.
The UNRWA Commissioner General also condemned the rocket attacks on the Kerem Shalom route into Gaza that killed three Israeli soldiers, leading to the closure of this route. The crossing is a key humanitarian aid entry point.
‘Al Mawasi is not safe’
According to media reports, leaflets dropped by the Israeli army east of Rafah advised communities to move to the so-called Al Mawasi safe zone, west of Rafah, next to the Mediterranean Sea.
United Nations humanitarian organizations have previously rejected similar evacuation initiatives by the Israeli military on the grounds that they represented forced displacement.
“In Al Mawasi, there is a severe lack of adequate infrastructure, including water availability and it is not feasible to assist the tens of thousands of displaced people there,” UNRWA spokesperson in Gaza Louise Wateridge told UN News.
According to the latest report from the United Nations agency, more than 400,000 people have taken refuge in the coastal area. Evaluate, reported an influx of displaced people from the nearby city of Khan Younis. To help them, UNRWA has two temporary health centers in Al Mawasi, along with other newly established health sites in the area.
“Not like the claims [to the contrary]it is far from safe because nowhere is safe in Gaza,” UNRWA Communications Director Juliette Touma affirmed.
According to Gaza health authorities, since October 7, when Hamas-led terrorist attacks on southern Israel prompted large-scale Israeli bombing and ground attacks, at least 34,680 Palestinians have died. killed, including more than 14,000 children and more than 78,000 injured. About 1,250 people were killed in southern Israeli communities and more than 250 were held hostage.
Evacuation order ‘inhumane’: Acting chief
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Monday warn that Civilian death, suffering and destruction have increased beyond already unbearable levels following the evacuation order in eastern Rafah.
“This is inhumane. It goes against the fundamental principles of international humanitarian and human rights law, of which the effective protection of civilians is their primary concern.
“The forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of people from Rafah to flattened areas where there are few shelters and virtually no access to the humanitarian aid needed for their survival is the unimaginable. It will only expose them to more danger and suffering.”
“More attacks on what is now the main humanitarian center in the Gaza Strip is not the answer”, Mr. Türk added.
