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UN urged to declare northern Gaza a disaster zone, stop Gaza genocide

October 22, 2024 at 4:37 pm

Displaced Palestinians on the border of Jabalia refugee camp began to be forcibly displaced by the Israeli army to the southern areas with the belongings they could take with them in Jabalia, Gaza on October 22, 2024. [Dawoud Abo Alkas – Anadolu Agency]

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has urged the UN to declare northern Gaza a disaster zone, with immediate intervention to halt the “genocide” being carried out by Israeli occupation forces. The rights group accuses Israel of engaging in systematic mass killings, forced displacement, deliberate starvation and the destruction of critical infrastructure in the area.

The organisation has documented severe human rights violations in northern Gaza, including Beit Lahia and the Jabalia Refugee Camp. Over 80 Palestinians were killed in Beit Lahia in a single night, and another 33 were killed when Israeli forces bombed homes in Jabalia, leaving dozens wounded and many still missing under the rubble.

According to Euro-Med, these attacks were carried out with the intent to wipe out the remaining Palestinian residents in the area or force them to flee.

“With no justification other than to kill the remaining residents and force any survivors to flee, Israeli occupation forces used multiple missiles to bomb the residential blocks, destroying them while hundreds of civilians were inside,” said the rights group.

The situation has become even more dangerous, warned Euro-Med, with Israeli forces reportedly surrounding the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia, shelling the healthcare facility and cutting off electricity, leaving patients and staff in a state of panic. Dr Munir Al-Barash, Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, confirmed that Israeli forces targeted the upper floors of the hospital, where over 40 patients, many in critical condition, were being treated, along with medical staff.

Israeli air strikes have further compounded the humanitarian crisis by destroying water wells and communication lines, and bombing hospitals. Funeral processions and even medical staff have not been spared. Euro-Med confirmed that humanitarian aid has been blocked since early October, leaving over 400,000 Palestinians in northern Gaza without essential supplies and at risk of starvation.

Its report emphasises the urgent need for international action. “The international community must recognise the situation in northern Gaza and declare it a disaster zone that requires immediate action. Israel must be pressed to cease its attacks on civilians, allow the provision of life-saving emergency aid, and end its violent genocidal campaign,” it wrote.

“The UN, along with individual and collective states, must intervene immediately to save the hundreds of thousands of people living in northern Gaza; prevent Israel from committing genocide for the second consecutive year; impose a comprehensive arms embargo on the occupation state; hold Israel accountable for all its crimes; and take all necessary steps to protect Palestinian civilians.”

READ: Palestinians in northern Gaza ‘waiting to die’ amid Israeli onslaught: UNRWA chief