UN Human Rights Chief Warns Gaza Remains in State of Disaster Despite Ceasefire

JAKARTA - United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said the Gaza Strip, Palestine, remains in a state of disaster, warning that limited aid deliveries and a fragile ceasefire have failed to stop preventable deaths, mass displacement, and the collapse of essential services.

In his opening speech to the 61st session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday, Turk delivered a grim assessment of conditions in the region more than four months after the fragile Gaza ceasefire came into effect on October 10, 2025.

"The situation in Gaza remains a disaster," Turk said, citing Palestinians who are still dying from Israeli fire, cold, hunger, and treatable diseases, launching Daily Sabah (24/2).

The aid allowed to enter the area, he added, was far from enough to meet the enormous needs.

Turk also expressed concern about the possibility of ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank, along with what he described as an accelerated effort towards illegal annexation.

The ceasefire since October 10, 2025 has reduced the intensity of fighting that erupted after the war began on October 7, 2023. However, the ceasefire has not ended civilian deaths or reversed the humanitarian collapse in an area with a population of around 2.1 million people.

According to figures from the Gaza Ministry of Health cited by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 72,045 Palestinians have been killed and 171,686 injured since the conflict began.

The figures include people who died because hospitals were closed, medicines were exhausted, and the water system failed to function.

Since the ceasefire was imposed, around 611 Palestinians have been killed and 1,630 injured as of February 19, 2026, including victims of air raids, shootings, and gunfire.

Israeli forces remain stationed in around 53 to 58 percent of Gaza, restricting access to farmland, infrastructure, and humanitarian facilities.

Meanwhile, UN agencies report a significant increase in aid deliveries compared to the period of near-total blockade that preceded the ceasefire.

Between the ceasefire and mid-February, more than 308,000 pallets of humanitarian cargo had been unloaded at the border, with most collected by UN agencies and partners. Nearly 200,000 metric tons of aid had entered Gaza.

In the last reporting week alone, about 13,000 pallets have been unloaded, about 71 percent of which are food.

The public kitchens prepare around 1.75 million hot meals every day.

Food aid reached about 134,000 families in the last monthly cycle, although the ration only covered half of the minimum caloric needs due to insufficient supplies.

Water partners are delivering nearly 20,000 cubic meters of drinking water every day through hundreds of distribution points.

Medical evacuations through Rafah have resumed on a limited basis, with more than 800 patients and caregivers transported since the crossing reopened partially.

However, the improvement is still far from what is needed.

The food security assessment at the end of 2025 showed that increased access helped prevent total famine in some areas, but hundreds of thousands of people remained in emergency or disaster conditions.

In February, aid agencies warned they could not sustain reduced rations for even a full month without new supplies.

Agriculture has been destroyed. Only a small portion of agricultural land can be accessed and is not damaged. Most livestock have died. Winter conditions have damaged food stocks stored in inadequate facilities.

The health system is barely functioning. Of 611 health points, only 252 are operational, many only partially.

Only 19 of 37 hospitals remain open. The shortage of medicines for chronic diseases is very acute. Water pollution has triggered an increase in cases of diarrhea and hepatitis A.

Overcrowded displacement sites increase the risk of disease and gender-based violence.

At least two-thirds of Gaza's population, some 1.4 million people, are still displaced in around 1,000 locations, mostly makeshift tents that provide little protection from the cold and rain.

Fires in the crowded camps have destroyed shelters and injured residents. Although hundreds of thousands have tried to return to the north, many neighborhoods remain inaccessible or uninhabitable.

The funding gap exacerbates the crisis. The 2026 Emergency Assistance Request for the Occupied Palestinian Territory seeks funds of 4.06 billion US dollars, with 92 percent allocated to Gaza. By mid-February, only about 5 percent had been disbursed.

The aid operation itself is under pressure. Of the 67 coordinated missions in the past week, some were denied or delayed. Since October 2023, 588 aid workers have been killed.