Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 20th Feb. UN top Humanitarian Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag said on Monday that an extension of Israel’s military operation in Rafah, where over a million internally displaced Palestinians have been forced to shelter will have “dire humanitarian consequences”.
Ms. Sigrid Kaag reiterated Guterres’s concern that such an operation at present time would be potentially disastrous for innocent civilians.
“There are more than a million people crammed in Rafah. It’s not intended for a million people in shelters, in random sort of plastic sheeted constructions. Health conditions are very worrisome,” she told reporters in Brussels after briefed European Union foreign ministers.
She voiced deep concern over getting aid into the Gaza Strip and distributing it to those in need.
“We have to acknowledge the fact that the security conditions, separate from military operations, due to what is called self-distribution by desperate civilians, but also looting and criminalization, is hampering efforts by the humanitarian community…to deliver assistance to the people that actually need it,” she said.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the iIntense Israeli bombardment from air, land and sea continues across Gaza resulted in civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of civilian infrastructure.
OCHA said in a flash update that widespread ground operations and heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups also continue to be reported, especially in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah.
It added that between 17 and 19 February, dozens of rockets were also reportedly fired by armed Palestinians toward Israel.
Israeli military operation in the Nasser Hospital complex in Khan Younis have continued, OCHA said.
It noted that on Sunday, the UN and the Palestine Red Crescent Society evacuated 14 patients. Negotiations are ongoing for the evacuation of the remaining patients.
According to the WHO over 180 patients and 15 doctors and nurses remain inside the hospital.
WHO said “The hospital is still experiencing an acute shortage of food, basic medical supplies, and oxygen. There is no tap water and no electricity, except a backup generator maintaining some lifesaving machines.”
OCHA reported violent incidents in the West Bank over the weekend, claimed both Israeli and Palestinian lives.
It added that on 16 February 2 Israeli men were shot and killed in southern Israel and 4 others including a child were injured, by a Palestinian man from Shu’fat refugee camp in East Jerusalem.
The Palestinian man was then shot and killed by an armed Israeli civilian, OCHA reported.
On Sunday, Israeli forces killed two Palestinian men in Tulkarm Refugee camp, during an exchange of fire with a Palestinian man whose body was later withheld by Israeli forces from being handed over.
OCHA said that the second fatality was an unarmed Palestinian who was reportedly killed by an Israeli army sniper while standing on the rooftop of his house.
Some 393 Palestinians have been killed, including 100 children, and 4,511 Palestinians, including 699 children, have been injured in conflict-related incidents across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel between 7 October 2023 and 18 February.
According to OCHA, 12 Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, were killed and 80 injured in conflict-related incidents in the same areas.
International Court of Justice is holding a hearing concerning an advisory opinion on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.
The advisory, non-binding, opinion on the occupation was requested by the General Assembly in December 2022.
The hearings will be held from 19 to 26 February, with over 50 countries, groups and the State of Palestine scheduled to speak, it concluded.
