Highlights of the noon briefing by Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General (excerpt on Occupied Palestinian Territory) 10 July 2024

10 July 2024

(Excerpt)

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Occupied Palestinian Territory

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that Israel’s instruction for people to leave Gaza City, as a result of today’s directives. will only fuel mass suffering for Palestinian families, many of whom have been displaced many times.

These civilians must be protected, and their essential needs must be met, whether they flee or whether they stay.

This is what we mean when we say that all parties involved in this conflict must respect international humanitarian law, at all times.

The level of fighting and destruction that we are seeing in recent days, as the ceasefire talks are ongoing, is truly shocking.

Also I want to update you on Muhannad Hadi, our Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, who yesterday was in the Gaza strip for his third visit and briefed the Secretary-General on his visit earlier today.

What Mr. Hadi told us is that he saw firsthand the consequences of the breakdown in public order and safety as he entered and exited Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing. He saw groups of men with sticks waiting for trucks to leave the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza. All the trucks that he passed were badly damaged, with broken windshields, mirrors and hoods. He also observed bags of fortified flour from the World Food Programme and UNRWA scattered alongside the road coming out of the crossing.

He also saw that the city of Khan Younis has largely been reduced to sand and rubble. Every building that he saw had been damaged in some way, shape or form.

Mr. Hadi also met with women’s groups, at one of our UN guesthouses. They told him about the harrowing conditions at sites for displaced people. Many women have cut off their hair, due to lice, and difficulties in accessing the necessary hygiene products such as shampoo, and because of the lack of privacy at sites for displaced people. Others voiced despair over their inability to provide for their families, in particular for relatives living with disabilities and those who are sick and cannot get treatment. They also told Mr. Hadi that their children go to bed without eating and drinking.

The Humanitarian Coordinator also heard from women about how extreme overcrowding in displacement sites and how that can lead to tensions within communities. One woman said that living with many different families in the same room meant that she wasn’t removing her hijab for days and that she couldn’t brush her hair or change clothes without being watched.

Others told him that overcrowding, despair and the breakdown in public order and safety is leading to an increase in sexual and gender-based violence.

At the IMC Field Hospital in Deir al Balah, which Mr. Hadi visited along with Dr. Hanan Balkhi, the WHO Regional Director, Mr. Hadi says he was humbled to see how doctors and nurses provided trauma care for hundreds of patients with severe wounds, despite nearly impossible operational conditions, including the inability to get basic medical supplies such as gauze.

Just a programming note that Mr. Hadi will be in New York next week. We expect him to brief the Security Council. He will also come to the stakeout to speak to you in person.

Also we are trying for next Thursday to have from Jerusalem the UN Women Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory to brief you. She also recently has been to Gaza.

Meanwhile, Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said today that four schools have been hit in the last four days in Gaza. Since the war began, he said, two thirds of UNRWA school buildings in Gaza – currently being used as shelters for displaced people, given that schools are not operational – two-thirds of those buildings have been hit. Some have been bombed out and many severely damaged.

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