New York, SANA- Head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, has renewed his urgent call for a ceasefire in Gaza, warning that civilians face death not only from bombardment but also from mass starvation and lack of aid.
“Every hour today counts, the more we wait, the more people will die,” said Lazzarini, who highlighted the many lethal dangers confronting Gazans today.
“Either they will die because of the military operation under bombardment, or they die because they could not be assisted in time and they are silently dying because of hunger,” he told UN News in Geneva.
“They’re even dying because they try to desperately seek for food going to these infamous distribution places of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” Mr. Lazzarini said, referring to the controversial non-UN aid hubs where supplies are distributed to those able to walk to them and carry away lifesaving relief.
According to the UN human rights office, OHCHR, since 27 May and until 17 August, 1,857 Palestinians have been killed “while seeking food”, including 1,021 killed near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites. Another 836 Palestinians have been killed on supply truck routes; “most of these killings appear to have been committed by the Israeli military”, OHCHR noted.
The UNRWA chief also echoed the UN Secretary-General’s appeal on Thursday for an immediate halt to the Israeli military escalation in Gaza City and the release of all hostages taken in Hamas-led terror attacks that sparked the war in October 2023.
Khadega/Mazen Eyon
