Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 18th Nov. UN Emergency Relief Coordinator and Humanitarian Affairs chief, Martin Griffiths on Friday told the Member States that fierce hostilities continue across Gaza from the air, sea, and on the ground, reported that 41,000 houses have been destroyed or severely damaged.
Over 1.5 million Gazans are displaced, 18 hospitals have shut down, and hundreds of thousands are living in fear and under continuing Israeli bombardment, Mr. Griffiths said.
He stressed that “Casualties continue to mount, with the dead reportedly exceeding 11,000 people – the majority of them children and women.”
“The actual total, however, is likely much higher as figures have not been updated for five days due to a collapse of communication networks in Gaza,” he added.
Mr. Griffiths stated that across Gaza, but particularly in the north, food and water supplies are running perilously low, and the lack of fuel means communications and essential services like water desalination are progressively failing.
He added that across the border, civilians in Israel endure deep pain of their own as they mourn the brutal, inhumane killing of 1,400 people.
Griffiths stressed that 240 hostages from babies to octogenarians must be released immediately and without condition.
Mr. Griffiths reiterated the UN’s 10-point plan setting out the necessary requirements for an effective humanitarian response.
He called on UN Member States to help achieve these objectives.
“We are not asking for the moon. We are asking for the basic measures required to meet the essential needs of the civilian population and stem the course of this crisis,” he stressed.
Griffiths warned that for as dire as the situation is in Gaza, “it could get far worse.”
“If we do not take action now, this is a conflict that could spread its tendrils further into other parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and beyond, and drag the region into a conflagration with even more catastrophic consequences,” he concluded.
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