Israel Continues Bombing and Ground Operations in Gaza, UN: Repeating the Horror, Number of Civilians Killed Increases Rapidly

UNRWA Shelter in Zawaida, Gaza Strip. (Source: UN News/Ziad Taleb)

JAKARTA - The head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said on Monday that the number of civilians killed in Gaza was increasing rapidly, as Israel continued bombing and ground operations.

"The resumption of military operations and their further expansion in southern Gaza repeats the horrors that have occurred in recent weeks," UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said in a statement, reported by CNN, December 5.

"The number of civilians killed is increasing rapidly. Civilians, including men, women, children, the elderly, the sick and the disabled are the ones who suffer the most," he explained.

He further said that the evacuation order to move civilians from Khan Younis to Rafah in southern Gaza due to ongoing bombing, "created panic, fear and anxiety."

Lazzarini said at least 60,000 people had been forced to move to “UNRWA shelters that were already overcrowded, and many more were asking to be sheltered. Many have been displaced more than once to escape war in other areas of Gaza.”

UNRWA currently hosts more than 1.2 million people in shelters, including in southern Gaza, according to the agency.

"The evacuation order pushed people to concentrate in an area that is less than a third of the Gaza Strip. They need everything: food, water, shelter and most of all safety. Roads to the south are blocked," Lazzarini said, noting that access to water limited to Gaza.

Lazzarini denied claims that the UN was planning to open a new refugee camp in Rafah.

"The claim that the UN has thousands of tents and plans to open a new refugee camp in Rafah is false," he stressed.

The UN official also said that the entire Palestinian enclave was no longer safe.

"We have said it many times. We say it again. There is no safe place in Gaza, neither in the south, nor the southwest, nor in Rafah nor in the unilaterally called 'safe zone'."

UNRWA reiterated its call for a humanitarian ceasefire, for Israel to reopen the Kerem Shalom border crossing and other crossings to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Quoting Al Jazeera, the Palestinian Authority in Gaza said that more than 800 people had died since the ceasefire ended last week. Meanwhile, overall, around 15,899 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, with the number of victims on the Israeli side around 1,200 people.