Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 9th Oct. UN Senior officials on Sunday said that they are engaged with key actors after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel with barrage of rockets firing into southern Israel which killed over 600 Israelis including children, women and adults and injured over 2000 people.
Hamas took hostages from villages in southern Israel and forcibly took them to Gaza city which includes small children and older people.
UN peacekeepers detected rocket and artillery fire exchanged across the Israel-Lebanon border ahead of Sunday’s Security Council emergency meeting on the unfolding crisis in Israel.
The Security Council closed emergency meeting will be held at 3 pm New York Time.
UN agencies reported hundreds of people have been killed and thousands injured and many were kidnapped by Hamas militant group after the early Saturday morning rocket fire into Israel by Palestinian militants.
The new reports voiced alarmed of food scarcity and clashes across the Israel-Lebanon border.
According to UN Mission in Lebanon, UN peacekeeping operation in Lebanon, “detected several rockets fired from southeast Lebanon toward Israeli-occupied territory in the general area of Kafr Chouba and artillery fire from Israel to Lebanon in response”.
Security Council-mandated mission, operating along an area known as the “Blue Line”, was deployed in 1978 to restore peace between Israel and Lebanon.
UNIFIL said in a statement that “We are in contact with authorities on both sides of the Blue Line, at all levels, to contain the situation and avoid a more serious escalation.”
“Our peacekeepers remain in their positions and on task.”
UNIFIL said peacekeepers continued to work, “some from shelters, for their safety”.
The mission said “We urge everyone to exercise restraint and make use of UNIFIL’s liaison and coordination mechanisms to de-escalate to prevent a fast deterioration of the security situation.”
According to a social media post by UN envoy in the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, “is in close contact” with the United States, European Union, Qatar, Egypt, and Lebanon “to discuss the ongoing war” in Israel and Gaza.
UNSCO post said “Priority now is to avoid further loss of civilian life and deliver much needed humanitarian aid to the Strip.”
It added that the “UN remains actively engaged to advance these efforts”.
UN officials have called for an immediate cessation of violence.
Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday condemned “in the strongest terms” the attack by Hamas against Israeli towns, UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in New York.
He urged “maximum restraint” and that “all diplomatic efforts” are made “to avoid a wider conflagration”.
Guterres said “Civilians must be respected and protected in accordance with international humanitarian law at all times,”.
WFP stated that as conflict intensifies, civilians, including vulnerable children and families, face mounting challenges in accessing essential food supplies, with distribution networks disrupted and production severely hampered by hostilities.
The agency said “WFP urges safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to affected areas, calling on all parties to uphold the principles of humanitarian law, taking every necessary measure to safeguard the lives and well-being of civilians, including ensuring access to food.”
UNRWA reported that food operations remain on hold until further notice, with 14 distribution centres closed.
The agency added that 112,759 families, or 541,640 individuals, are yet to receive food assistance, the agency said.
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