In just one week, nearly 400 Palestinians have reportedly been killed and almost 1,500 injured in Gaza, said Joyce Msuya, the UN acting under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, on Wednesday.
Briefing the UN Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Msuya said the people of Gaza have suffered multiple mass casualty incidents due to Israeli airstrikes since her last briefing on Oct. 9.
“The world has seen the images of patients and displaced persons, sheltering near Al Aqsa hospital, burning alive,” she said, adding that scores of others, including women and children, are suffering the excruciating pain of severe lifechanging burns.
“If such horror does not awaken our sense of humanity and propel us to action, what will?” Msuya asked.
She said Israel’s military offensive is intensifying in the north, and since the beginning of October, it’s estimated that over 55,000 people have been displaced from the Jabaliya area, while others remain stranded in their homes with water and food running out.
“For the 155,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women in Gaza, it is an exhausting and traumatizing experience, not knowing where and how to give birth, or whether their child will survive,” said Msuya.
She noted that from Oct. 2 to 15, no food aid entered northern Gaza with “a trickle” allowed in, and all essential supplies for survival are running out.
