The death toll from the Israeli war on Gaza has risen to more than 30,000 martyrs, as a result of the continuous bombing for 147 days and the famine that is increasing in severity day after day. Meanwhile, international organizations called for support for UNRWA, the main lifeline for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The humanitarian crisis is worsening in the Gaza Strip, as the Israeli aggression on the Strip enters its 147th day, resulting in more casualties, and in light of the occupation obstructing the entry of aid, especially to the north, which is on the verge of “famine.”
In the latest updated toll, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the toll of the Israeli aggression had risen to 30,228 martyrs and 71,377 injured since the seventh of last October.
The ministry added, "The Israeli occupation committed 16 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip during the past 24 hours, leaving 193 martyrs and 920 injured."
Medical sources reported that 8 children were killed inside Kamal Adwan Hospital only, in the northern Gaza Strip, due to hunger and malnutrition.
Yesterday (Thursday), the Ministry of Health announced the death of 13 children due to famine and malnutrition in the northern Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian News Agency (Wafa) quoted local sources that the occupation forces targeted, at dawn on Friday, an inhabited house in the Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip, which led to the deaths of at least 4 people and the injury of a number of others.
A Palestinian was also killed and others were injured in an Israeli air strike that targeted a house in the town of Al-Shoka, east of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.
Earlier Thursday, the Israeli occupation army opened fire on a gathering of Palestinians who were waiting for trucks carrying aid to arrive in the “Nabulsi Roundabout” area, south of Gaza City, killing at least 112 Palestinians and wounding 760 others, according to the Ministry of Health in the Strip.
According to Wafa, dozens of martyrs and wounded are still in the targeted location, and the occupation forces are preventing ambulances from reaching them.
Calls to support UNRWA
In response to the demands of international organizations and in light of the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, especially the north, the European Commission announced on Friday that it would provide 50 million euros to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
The Commission also intends to increase emergency support to the Palestinians to 68 million euros in 2024.
In the same context, European Council President Charles Michel said: “We urgently need a ceasefire to allow the arrival of humanitarian aid provided by UNRWA.”
The office of the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People had previously appealed to donors who had stopped funding UNRWA to withdraw such decisions.
The UN office reaffirmed its firm support for the agency and its “indispensable” mission.
He expressed deep concern about the catastrophic conditions in Gaza and the obstacles to implementing UNRWA's mandate, noting that recent reports highlight the urgent need to increase support to UNRWA to implement the temporary measures ordered by the International Court of Justice.
He pointed out that supporting UNRWA "means standing by the Palestinian people until a just and lasting solution to the Palestine issue is reached in accordance with United Nations resolutions and international law."
In turn, 17 international non-governmental organizations working in the field of relief expressed serious concern about the current and potential suspension of funding for UNRWA.
In a joint statement, she stressed the need for the European Union and member states to maintain funding for UNRWA.
International concern about the Rafah attack
Meanwhile, international warnings continue regarding a possible Israeli attack on the city of Rafah, south of Gaza.
The European Union's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Lotte Knudsen, said in a speech in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday, that the bloc is "deeply concerned" about the imminent ground operation in Rafah.
Knudsen stressed that the European Union "strongly opposes settler violence" in the West Bank, calling for accountability in this regard.
In turn, Finland's envoy to the United Nations, Heidi Schroeders-Fuchs, said that the Israeli attack on Rafah "will exacerbate the already catastrophic humanitarian situation" in the Strip.
Fox, speaking on behalf of the Nordic and Baltic countries, also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Recently, the Israeli war cabinet discussed the plan to “evacuate” the Palestinians from Rafah in the context of Tel Aviv’s intention to invade it, despite international warnings of the danger this would pose to the city, which was crowded with displaced persons who took refuge in it as the last refuge in the southern Gaza Strip. On the border with Egypt.
Urgent international support for UNRWA and a ceasefire are desperately needed.
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