Gaza is on the brink of running out of food, water, electricity and other vital supplies
Relief workers assist the population as best they can as the dead mount. Human rights experts call for a truce, recall that there is no justification for attacks on civilians and denounce war crimes on all sides.
Gaza is on the verge of running out of food, water, electricity and other basic supplies, UN humanitarian agencies operating in the besieged Palestinian territory warned Thursday, urging access for vital supplies.
The siege is preventing aid from reaching Gaza's 2.3 million residents, who are already living in precarious conditions because of the Israeli blockade.
More than 340,000 people have been displaced and uprooting continues as the bombardment continues to kill and injure people.
Some 220,000 displaced people are housed in 92 schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), an agency that already has 12 dead among its staff.
The shelters are overcrowded and have limited food, non-food items and drinking water.
Water crisis around the corner
The UN warned that a water crisis is looming in UNRWA emergency shelters and across the Gaza Strip due to damaged infrastructure, lack of electricity to operate pumps and desalination plants, and limited water supplies in the local market. No fuel can enter the territory and Israeli water suppliers can no longer deliver water to Gaza.
In coordination with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Agency established an Emergency Task Force to explore solutions for the provision of safe water in shelters and throughout the Strip.
Ya son 12 los trabajadores de la @UNRWA muertos por los bombardeos de Israel en la Franja de Gaza https://t.co/6rlqzuPy4T
— Noticias ONU (@NoticiasONU) October 12, 2023
For the time being, communication with UNRWA offices is still available via internet and satellite phones, but could be interrupted at any time. So far, 21 UNRWA facilities have been hit by shelling.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, 1100 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October. In Israel, the death toll is estimated at 1200.
Humanitarian work continues
Meanwhile, relief workers continue to support the people of Gaza as best they can and have repeatedly stressed that their stocks of life-saving supplies are running low and that it is imperative to allow humanitarian goods access to the Palestinian territory.
More than 5,300 UNRWA staff are responding to the emergency in extremely difficult circumstances. Many roads have been destroyed or rendered inaccessible due to debris and continued air strikes are limiting movement.
In conjunction with UNRWA, the World Food Programme (WFP) yesterday distributed food and fresh bread from "still functioning bakeries" to more than 175,000 displaced people in 88 shelters, with the intention of reaching more than 800,000 people across Palestine.
Dozens of experts call for a truce
Some 30 human rights experts* and four working groups* unequivocally condemned attacks on civilians by all parties to the conflict, recalling that "there is no justification for indiscriminate targeted violence against innocent civilians, whether it comes from Hamas or Israeli forces. It is absolutely prohibited under international law and constitutes a war crime.
In a joint statement, the special rapporteurs called for an immediate ceasefire to be monitored by an independent international body.
The experts rejected the deliberate attacks and hostage-taking by Hamas. "These actions are egregious violations of international law and represent international crimes," they said, calling for the unconditional release of the hostages.
As for Israel's response, they repudiated in the strongest terms the dehumanising language of the Palestinian people used by senior government officials and the indiscriminate military attacks "against the already exhausted Palestinian people of Gaza", who have lived "under an illegal blockade for 16 years and have already been through five major brutal wars, for which no one has been held accountable".
"This amounts to collective punishment," they stressed, and alluded to its classification under international law as a war crime.
Inflicting starvation is a crime against humanity
The experts, including Francesca Albanese, special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, stressed that the withholding of essential supplies such as food, water, electricity and medicine "will precipitate a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where its population is now at the inevitable risk of starvation".
In this regard, they stressed that "intentional starvation is a crime against humanity".
The experts reminded the international community of its responsibility to address the root causes of the conflict, including Israel's 56-year occupation and annexation of territory, and urged it to identify viable ways to prevent further violations of international law and further human suffering and bloodshed.
The rapporteurs concluded by asserting that it is essential to break the cycle of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
"Armed attacks and military responses have already proven incapable of achieving security and respect for human rights for all. Restoration of international legality, accountability and respect for the humanity and dignity of all must prevail, including an end to 56 years of military occupation by Israel," they concluded.
