Senior UN Official: We Have Disappointed Palestinians Many Times

JAKARTA - A senior UN official said the Palestinian people had been disappointed many times, as the war between the Hamas militant group and Israel continued, causing the death toll and injuries of civilians to continue to grow.

The head of the UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs and Reconstruction in the Sigrid Kaag Gaza Strip said nearly one million children were not in school.

"Schools are used as shelter for families," he said at a World Economic Forum session in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as reported by The National News April 29.

"This can't wait for a political solution," he said, adding "we feel like zombies" to the people there.

The Hamas-run Ministry of Health on Sunday announced that Israeli soldiers killed 66 Palestinians and injured 138 others over the past 24 hours, causing the death toll to 34,454 people and injuries to reach 77,575 people since the Israeli-Hamas conflict broke out on October 7, 2023, quoted from Xinhua.

"I think we have disappointed the Palestinian people many times", he said, adding "I know we can move the mountain with political will."

The Hamas-Israeli conflict, which has entered its 206th day, was triggered by a Hamas militant attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and held 253 people hostage, according to Israeli calculations.

"The situation in Gaza is unfortunate. More than 200 days have passed, in which Israel took the opportunity to attack the Palestinian people on the pretext of revenge against Hamas, but in reality, they took revenge against the entire Palestinian population," President Abbas said at the same forum on Sunday, quoted from WAFA.

The Hamas-Israeli war has displaced most of the 2.3 million residents and destroyed most of the enclave.

Negotiations to realize the ceasefire in Gaza continue, with the latest steps to take today in Cairo, Egypt, where representatives of Hamas and Israel are planned to attend.