The United Nations and other international aid organizations on Sunday decried the devastating toll of six months of war in Gaza, warning that the Palestinian territory had become \u201cbeyond catastrophic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSix months is an awful milestone,\u201d the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said, warning that \u201chumanity has been all but abandoned\u201d in the severity of the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Gaza war broke out on October 7 with an unprecedented attack by Hamas militants that resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, Israeli figures show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The militants also took more than 250 hostages \u2014 129 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 who the army says are dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israel\u2019s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,175 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made a new condemnation of the \u201cbarbaric act of violence\u201d that unleashed the war, and demanded \u201cthe release of remaining hostages.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, he stressed that \u201cthis atrocity does not justify the horrific ongoing bombardment, siege and health system demolition by Israel in Gaza, killing, injuring and starving hundreds of thousands of civilians, including aid workers. \u201cThe denial of basic needs \u2014 food, fuel, sanitation, shelter, security and health care \u2014 is inhumane and intolerable,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of Gaza\u2019s 36 main hospitals, only 10 remain even partially functional, according to the WHO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tedros voiced particular outrage at \u201cthe deaths and grievous injuries of thousands of children in Gaza,\u201d which he said would \u201cremain a stain on all of humanity.\u201d \u201cThis assault on present and future generations must end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA, said the \u201chellhole in Gaza is deepening by the day.\u201d \u201cAll lines \u2014 including the red lines \u2014 were crossed. This war is made far worse through technologies mis-used by humans to harm other humans; en-masse,\u201d he said on X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is made worse by the famine born from an Israeli-imposed siege, one would think it\u2019s from a different era. As a result, a man-made famine is eating up bodies of babies and young children,\u201d Lazzarini added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said more than 13,000 children have reportedly died. \u201cHomes, schools and hospitals in ruin. Teachers, doctors and humanitarians killed. Famine is imminent,\u201d she said on X on Saturday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths insisted Saturday that there needed to be \u201ca reckoning for this betrayal of humanity.\u201d IFRC Secretary-General Jagan Chapagain described the situation as \u201cbeyond catastrophic\u201d and warned \u201cmillions of lives are at risk of hunger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The organization announced Sunday that another Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) employee had been killed in Gaza. The body of Mohammad Maher Khalil Abed was found on Sunday, but he was killed during the evacuation of the Al-Amal hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis on March 24, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sixteen PRCS staff and volunteers have now been killed since October 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three staff and volunteers from Israel\u2019s Magen David Adom (MDA) have also been killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the caretaker of the Geneva Conventions, \u201ca steady flow of humanitarian aid\u201d into Gaza was vital, but it was \u201conly part of the solution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBoth sides must conduct their military operations in a way that spares civilians caught in the middle,\u201d it said on X. Tedros pointed out that over 70 percent of those who have died in Gaza have been women and children. \u201cWe urge all parties to silence their guns. We appeal for peace. Now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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