The heads of more than a dozen United Nations agencies and international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have issued a rare joint statement Sunday calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Gaza officials reported today that more than 10,000 Palestinians - including more than 4,100 children - have been killed since October 7 by Israel’s retaliatory attacks against the tiny enclave.
More than four weeks ago, the humanitarian situation of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip drastically deteriorated following attacks by the Israeli military due to atrocities committed by Palestinian armed groups in Israel. The increasing escalation of violence and the complete blockade imposed on Gaza by the Israeli government has led to a humanitarian catastrophe for the people of Gaza.
Sunday’s statement was issued by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), the highest-level humanitarian coordination forum of the UN system, bringing together the executive heads of 18 UN and non-UN organizations
"For almost a month" the joint statement said, "the world has been watching the unfolding situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory in shock and horror at the spiraling numbers of lives lost and torn apart."
"Tens of thousands of people have been displaced," the leaders said. "This is horrific."
Over 1.5 million people – more than two thirds of the total population of Gaza - have been displaced due to the attacks by the Israeli military or the Israeli evacuation order. Some 717,000 civilians are sheltering in 149 UN installations in increasingly dire conditions.
Leaders in the group that issued the statement included the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the heads of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO), World Food Programme (WFP), International Organization for Migration (IOM), as well as CARE International, Mercy Corps and Save the Children, representing the world’s humanitarian NGOs.
Notably, the statement was not signed by the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Secretary General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), who are standing invitees of the IASC.
In their statement, the signing organizations noted at least 1,400 people were killed in Israel and more than 200 were taken hostage.
"The horrific killings of even more civilians in Gaza is an outrage, as is cutting off 2.2 million Palestinians from food, water, medicine, electricity and fuel," the organizations said.
In Gaza, more than 10,000 people have been killed by Israeli bombardments, including 4,100 children and over 570 elderly persons, More than 25,000 injured people require immediate treatment within overburdened hospitals.
More than 2,000 others - including 1,250 children - have been reported missing and may be still trapped dead or alive under the rubble. Rescue teams are unable to reach affected residential areas due to security risks, lack of equipment, and severe road damage.
“An entire population is besieged and under attack, denied access to the essentials for survival, bombed in their homes, shelters, hospitals and places of worship. This is unacceptable,” they said.
While more than 100 attacks against health care have been reported, scores of aid workers have been killed since the escalation of the conflict, including 88 UN staff – the highest number of United Nations fatalities ever recorded in a single conflict – and at least 150 health workers.
Since the start of hostilities, over 40 percent of hospitals in the Gaza Strip, and more than 70 percent of health care centers were forced to shut down due to the damage they sustained, lack of power and supplies or evacuation orders, increasing the pressure on the remaining health facilities that are still operational.
“Civilians and the infrastructure they rely on – including hospitals, shelters and schools – must be protected. More aid – food, water, medicine and of course fuel – must enter Gaza safely, swiftly and at the scale needed, and must reach people in need, especially women and children, wherever they are,” the joint statement said.
The humanitarian leaders renewed their plea for the parties to the conflict to respect all their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, while also repeating their call for the immediate and unconditional release of all civilians held hostage.
"We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire," the leaders said. "Enough is enough. This must stop now."
For almost a month, the world has been watching the catastrophe unfold in the occupied Palestinian territory, shocked by the rising death toll but seemingly unable to put a halt to it.
The United Nations, including Secretary-General António Guterres and High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, humanitarian organizations, human rights organizations, and independent UN human rights experts have repeatedly called for the protection of civilians, an immediate ceasefire and the allowance of urgently needed humanitarian aid into Gaza.
At the same time, influential governments around the world continue to fuel the conflict and take no action to stop the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in the territory. The UN Security Council has failed several times to adopt a resolution calling at least for some kind of halt to the hostilities to assist deliveries of humanitarian aid.
Meanwhile, Israeli ground operations in northern Gaza are ongoing, with troops and tanks reportedly cutting off Gaza City from the south. Intense bombardments continue across the Gaza Strip, including in central and southern areas, killing hundreds of civilians every day, the majority of them are children and women.
On October 7, Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, including fighters from the militant Hamas group, launched thousands of rockets toward Israel and breached through a perimeter fence of Gaza at multiple locations. Members of armed groups entered into Israeli towns, communities, and military facilities near the Gaza Strip, killing and capturing Israeli forces and civilians.
More than 1,400 Israelis and foreign nationals, most of them civilians, were reportedly killed and more than 5,400 injured, most of them on October 7. Some 240 people, including Israelis and foreign nationals, are held hostage in Gaza.
Within just a few weeks, the heavy bombardment by the Israeli armed forces from the air, sea and land has led to a humanitarian catastrophe in the densely populated Palestinian territory. The UN says the current siege imposed on Gaza is collective punishment. Under international criminal law, collective punishment is a war crime; denial of humanitarian access and humanitarian assistance can also amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide.
Further information
Full text: Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, on the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, "We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire", IASC, statement, published November 5, 2023
https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/about-inter-agency-standing-committee/statement-principals-inter-agency-standing-committee-situation-israel-and-occupied-palestinian