Gazans were once again forced to flee their homes as the Israeli army intensified its bombardment.
Staff of the United Nations Department of Safety and Security were on their way to the European Hospital in Rafah in Gaza today when a United Nations vehicle was attacked, killing one person and injuring another.
Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement through his spokesman on the same day, condemning all attacks on UN personnel and calling for a full investigation.
He expressed his condolences to the families of the staff members who died.
The Secretary-General said that the conflict continues to take a heavy toll on civilians and humanitarian workers, and he reiterates his urgent appeal to all parties to implement an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and to release all hostages.
A "life-or-death" situation
Continued Israeli bombardment has paralyzed the delivery of humanitarian aid, with nearly 360,000 people fleeing Rafah since Israel issued its first evacuation order a week ago, UNRWA said Monday.
In another alert, UNRWA noted that the current restrictions on humanitarian access to and from the Gaza Strip are a "matter of life and death" for Gazans, who are already suffering from relentless bombardment and food insecurity. There is an urgent need to provide safe passage for humanitarian assistance and workers.
A week ago, Israel launched a military offensive in Rafah, seizing control of the Gaza side of the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings. The latest reports indicate more clashes and shelling in the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza.
UNRWA said the bombing and other evacuation orders had displaced thousands of families in northern Gaza. However, they simply have nowhere to run. Because there can be no security without a ceasefire.
Funding appeal
As the situation continues to deteriorate, the United Nations reiterates its appeal for $2.8 billion to provide assistance to more than 3 million people in Gaza and the West Bank over the next eight months.
Mssuya, the UN's Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, said women and children have died more in months than any war of the century. Those who survived are now at risk of losing their lives due to a lack of food, safe drinking water, medicines, and health care.
Speaking in Kuwait, she described what happened every day: large numbers of women giving birth in horrific conditions, often without anesthesia or medical assistance, while bombs exploded around them.
"Mothers watch their babies die in their arms because they don't have enough milk to feed them," she said. And the children are dying because they don't have enough food or water. There is still much to be done
The war has been going on for more than seven months, and at least 35,000 people have been killed, according to health authorities in Gaza. An additional 70,000 people are injured or missing, many trapped in the rubble.
Mssuya said sustained aid funding is urgently needed to help those who survive on humanitarian aid, arguing that even without a ceasefire, "there is still a lot we can do as long as the conditions are right".
"We are negotiating access with all parties on a daily basis," she noted. We are coordinating humanitarian relief efforts. We have rescued people from the rubble and repatriated the bodies of those who were killed, including those working at the World Central Kitchen and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), who died in the service of those in need. ”
Buildings in the West Bank were demolished
On the same day, OCHA reported on the demolition of Palestinian buildings in the Al'Arrub refugee camp in Hebron province in the West Bank.
So far this year, 435 buildings have been damaged or destroyed across the West Bank, displacing 824 people, according to the agency's latest data.
