UN demands Israel halt Gaza devastation, calls current damage 'unacceptable'

The UN has called on Israel to halt its ongoing deadly attacks on Gaza, warning that the current scale of destruction is "unacceptable".

"We've warned that it's unacceptable that so many buildings have been destroyed, that so many people have lost their homes, have been forced to flee, not once, but several times over the course of the last two years," UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said during a news conference on Friday.

Haq said that the UN has tracked extensive damage across the enclave since the war began in October 2023, using satellite data from UNOSAT.

"We continue to call on Israeli authorities to avoid the sort of destruction of Gaza that has been occurring since October 2023 and we once more, of course, call for a ceasefire," Haq said.

Highlighting the ongoing Israeli restrictions on humanitarian operations, he said: "Yesterday, seven out of our 13 attempts to coordinate the movement of aid workers and supplies with Israeli authorities were facilitated."

The approved missions enabled the delivery of fuel, water, generators, hygiene supplies, and medical aid.

However, "the six remaining attempts were either outright denied or approved initially, but then faced impediments on the ground," he added.

The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 58,600 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

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Source: TRT