Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS, 30th August – UN chief António Guterres on Thursday has called for an “immediate cessation” of Israeli military operations in the occupied Palestinian territory as the crisis in the West Bank continues to escalate alongside the ongoing war in Gaza.
Mr. Guterres’s intervention late Wednesday came one of the biggest Israeli Security Forces operations in the West Bank in years against terrorists with raids, airstrikes including drones that by Thursday had killed 17 people, according to Palestinian media.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric issued a statement in New York said that Mr. Guterres was deeply concerned by airstrikes in Tulkarm and Tubas governorates which caused casualties and damage to public infrastructure.
He also strongly condemned the loss of lives, including children’s, the statement stated.
Guterrres appealed to to end to the violence in the West Bank, he maintained that the latest “dangerous developments” were “fuelling an already explosive situation in the occupied West Bank and further undermining the Palestinian Authority” there, spokesman added.
Mr. Guterres also called for the “status quo” to be maintained at Jerusalem’s holy sites, as he expressed deep concern about the “recent dangerous and provocative acts and statements” by Israel’s national security minister, after his recent visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is known to Jews as Temple Mount.
Mr. Guterres insisted, as he urged Israel “to protect civilians and ensure their safety [and] to exercise maximum restraint and use lethal force only when it is strictly unavoidable”.
He stressed that the Israeli military should also comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law,
Guterres reiterated that all those injured in the Israeli manoeuvres “must have access to medical care”, while aid teams must be able to reach everyone in need.
Security Council is convening a meeting on the escalating crisis at the request of the United Kingdom.
The meeting set to gather against the destabilizing backdrop of rising tensions and heavy exchanges of fire between northern Israel and Hezbollah fighters based in southern Lebanon in addition to the war in Gaza.
UN human rights office warned that the Israeli military’s actions risked further enflaming an “already explosive situation” citing multiple airstrikes in the Nur Shams Refugee Camp in Tulkarem on Monday night that left five dead three Palestinian men and two boys aged 13 and 15.
“Three of the fatalities, including the two boys, were killed while they were passing by the targeted house located in one of the small and crammed alleyways in the camp,” OHCHR said, cited multiple sources.
UN office warned that the situation in the Occupied West Bank “could worsen dramatically” if the Israeli military continues to “systematically use unlawful lethal force and ignore violence perpetrated by settlers”.
UN aid teams confirmed that a mass polio campaign aimed to protect all children under 10 years old is set to begin in Gaza this Sunday.
WHO said that dire sanitary conditions and constant evacuation orders linked to ongoing operations by the Israeli military have led to the outbreaks of multiple preventable diseases, polio included.
Sam Rose Senior Deputy Field Director for UNRWA said “A lack of water, healthcare and humanitarian access has formed a “perfect storm of conditions” in which polio reemerged in Gaza.”
Some 3,000 workers will ensure that over 640,000 children under the age of 10 will receive two drops of oral polio vaccine type 2.
The campaign is a joint UN operation involving UNRWA, the WHO and UNICEF.
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