UN Agency Leader Calls Gazans In Extreme Mapetaka

Total WHO/Christopher Black

JAKARTA - Leaders of a number of agencies at the United Nations and humanitarian organizations are urging Israel to provide food and medical supplies to the Gaza Strip. They warned civilians there were in extreme malapetaka.

"We call on Israel to fulfill its legal obligations, based on humanitarian laws and international human rights, to provide food and medical supplies as well as facilitate relief operations, and to world leaders to prevent even worse disasters from occurring," said a statement by the UN's highest-level humanitarian coordination forum., Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) reported by ANTARA from Anadolu, Thursday, February 22.

According to IASC's statement, the health system continues to be systematically degraded along with disaster consequences.

In addition, the IASC said on February 19, only 12 of the 36 hospitals with a partially functional inpatient capacity.

"The disease is rampant. Starvation is threatening. The water is running low. The basic infrastructure is destroyed. Food production has stopped. Hospitals have turned into battlefields. One million children face trauma every day," he added.

The committee warned against further violence in Rafah, which is home to more than a million people seeking refuge from Israel's war in the region, saying it could strike a deadly blow to the already helpless humanitarian response.

To avoid even worse disasters, the committee listed 10 terms, including an immediate ceasefire, civil protection and reliable infrastructure, hostage release, an unrestricted path to distributing aid, a functioning humanitarian notification system, and a stable communication network.

Humanitarian institutions remain committed, despite the risks. But they cannot be allowed to take action, "as in the statement.

Israel's later bombings have killed at least 29,313 people and injured nearly 70,000 people with mass destruction and a shortage of basic necessities.

Israel's war in Gaza left 85 percent of the region's population displaced amid food shortages, clean water and medicines, while 60 percent of infrastructure in the region had been damaged or destroyed, according to the United Nations.

Israel is being prosecuted for committing genocide at the International Court. A provisional decision in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocide and take action to ensure humanitarian aid was given to civilians in Gaza.