UN Official Calls Gaza Crisis ‘Unconscionable,’ Urges Immediate Ceasefire

NEW YORK CITY: Continuing failures to provide civil protection to non-combatants in Gaza is “Unconscionable,” a senior UN official told the Security Council on Monday, Sigrid Kaag. Kaag, the UN’s humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for the Gaza Strip, called it an artificial disaster that must be solved by imposing an immediate cease-fire, releasing all the hostages, and increasing the supplies of humanitarian aid. 

 Kaag highlighted the importance of ensuring that Gaza is spared further devastation, and they stressed the need to help its civilian population, saying that time to act is fast running out. She also expressed concern about how the safety of humanitarian workers has not been guaranteed, and she said, “nowhere in Gaza is truly safe. 

 She said Humanitarian workers require an appropriate environment that ensures they operate effectively. Most importantly, access to populations that need assistance without obstruction or compromises to their safety. Erosion of provided basic amenities has also seen revived diseases such as polio wherever it used to be nonexistent in the region. 

 Kaag observed that there have been improvements in expanding other transit points for aid from Egypt, Jordan, Cyprus, the West Bank, and Israel. But she insisted that much more has to be done to ensure freedom of access to the Gaza Strip to achieve sustained and unhampered supply. 

 According to the information provided by Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of the UN’s Office for Project Services, concrete numbers of aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip are available. He said that over 22,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid have been dispatched since the beginning of the crisis. Nevertheless, the vast majority of shipments are still outstanding or have been denied by the competent bodies. 

Da Silva blessed the Egyptian line, referring to it as a ‘lifeline’ for Gaza. He intensified his call for more political will and security undertakings to ensure that people in need in Gaza and other parts of Palestine get the humanitarian support they require. He equally emphasized the UNWRA since it has been noted as the key organization the global community has used to implement assistance in the region. 

 Russia’s delegate to the UN Security Council, Vasily Nebenzya, takes a swipe at the Western states, accusing them of covertly endorsing the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. He said that due to support from countries such as the United States, Israel has been able to perform military operations that trigger the deaths of non-combatants. 

 Slovenian representative Samuel Zbogar, the president of the Security Council, supported the call, pointing out that it is also essential to bring the perpetrators of outlawed conduct under international humanitarian law to book. He urged to stop the attacks at once. He pointed out that Israel, being the occupying power, has a specific duty to allow supplies to the civilians in Gaza, particularly food and medical assistance. 

 ”We have to get rid of this feeling of being protected,” Zbogar said. Some of the civilians’ rights, among other things, killing, maiming, bombing, torturing, and displacing them, cannot be performed under the watch of the international community. 

 It is important to note that the Security Council, with the resolution, spoke unanimously against attacks on UN staff and humanitarian aid workers in this case. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US envoy, also responded to this, saying that the United States will not tolerate any activities that put the lives of aidgivers in jeopardy and underlined the need for a review of the Israeli army’s operational guidelines.