 "Palestinians walk by the rubble of a building after it was struck by an Israeli airstrike, in Gaza City, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. File Image / AP")
UN Chief Antonio Guterres on Sunday said Israel’s military operation in northern Gaza is making life “untenable” for Palestinians who have to witness death and devastation on a daily basis.
“The plight of Palestinian civilians trapped in north Gaza is unbearable," Guterres’ spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said.
“The Secretary-General is shocked by the harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction in the north, with civilians trapped under rubble, the sick and wounded going without life-saving health care, and families lacking food and shelter, amid reports of families being separated and many people detained,” he added.
Guterres said that Israel is denying entry to food aid trucks in Gaza which is “putting countless lives in peril.”
A report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicated that, during the first three weeks of October, Israeli authorities permitted only four out of 70 intended aid deliveries to enter Gaza.
As per UN estimates, the overall unemployment rate in the entire Palestinian region, which includes Gaza and the West Bank, reached 51.1 per cent while the real gross domestic product slumped to an average of 32.2 per in the past year.
Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has reinforced his decision to declare Guterres persona non grata over what he described as a failure to condemn Iran’s missile attack and antisemitic and anti-Israel conduct.
On October 2, Katz said that he was barring Guterres from entering Israel. He posted on X on Sunday that “Guterres can continue seeking support from UN member states, but the decision will not change.”
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