‘Gravest Crimes’ – UN Condemns Dehumanization of Gaza Civilians
Joyce Msuya criticized the international community for contenting with statements of condemnations void of any tangible actions to stop the genocide in Gaza.
The United Nations Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Joyce Msuya, underlined the devastating humanitarian situation in Gaza saying that “we are witnessing acts reminiscent of the gravest international crimes.”
“Essential commercial goods and services including electricity have been all but cut off. This has led to increasing hunger, starvation, and now, as we have heard, potentially famine,” Msuya said, speaking at a Security Council session on Palestine on Tuesday.
The UN official criticized the international community for contenting with statements of condemnations void of any tangible actions to stop the genocide in Gaza.
“We have condemned the death, destruction, and dehumanization of civilians in Gaza who have been driven from their homes, stripped of their sense of place and dignity, forced to witness their family members killed, burned, and buried alive,” Msuya said while noting that this was her 16th briefing to the Security Council since the start of the war on Gaza.
The acting under-secretary accentuated the horrific situation that the children of Gaza have been subjected to since the genocidal war started on October 7 of last year.
“Injured children have had the words ‘Wounded Child, No Surviving Family,’ penned on their arms,” Msuya told member states.
She went on to say that most of the besieged Strip has been turned into “a wasteland of rubble” after a year of a relentless genocidal war launched by Israel last year.
“What distinction was made, and what precautions were taken, if more than 70 percent of civilian housing is either damaged or destroyed?” Msuya questioned.
‘Daily Cruelty Has No Limits’
On the topic of the ongoing military operation in northern Gaza and the siege being imposed on tens of thousands of Palestinians in the area, Msuya described it as “an intensified, extreme and accelerated version of the horrors of the past year.”
“Shelters, homes, and schools have been burned and bombed to the ground,” she said, adding that numerous families remain trapped under the rubble due to the lack of fuel for digging machinery and Israeli forces preventing rescue teams from reaching them.
The UN official confirmed Israel’s systematic attacks on the healthcare system in the ravaged Strip.
“Ambulances have been destroyed. And hospitals have come under attack,” Msuya stated.
She also slammed Israel for its continued siege of the north and forced displacement of Palestinians from the area towards the south of the Strip.
“The daily cruelty we see in Gaza seems to have no limits. Beit Hanoun has been besieged for more than one month. Yesterday, food and water reached shelters, but today, Israeli soldiers forcibly displaced people from those same areas,” Msuya noted.
She added that Palestinians under siege in the north have voiced their fear to UN agencies that they “will be targeted if they receive help,” noting that “around 75,000 people remain with dwindling water and food supplies” due to Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid.
Unfit for Human Survival
Regarding the situation in the Strip, Msuya confirmed that living conditions are “unfit for human survival.”
“Food is insufficient. Shelter items – needed ahead of winter – are in extremely short supply,” she added
Msuya said that their humanitarian aid convoys have been subjected to “violent armed looting”, along routes from the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing, due to the collapse of “public order and safety.”
The UN official unveiled that due to the current situation, several food assistance kitchens were forced to shut down, noting that in October, “daily food distribution shrunk by nearly 25 percent” compared to September.
“These are not logistical problems – they can be solved with the right political will,” Msuya stressed.
‘Gaza Scorecard’ – Israel Failed to Meet US Deadline on Deteriorating Situation
The UN official slammed Israel for continuing to undermine the international community through measures like banning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
“If implemented, this bill will be another devastating blow to efforts to provide life-saving aid and avert the threat of famine. No other organization can fill these gaps,” Msuya emphasized.
The UN acting undersecretary concluded by demanding that Israel respect international humanitarian and human rights law, as a member state of the UN Security Council, and protect the lives of civilians.
Msuya called on holding those responsible accountable for their crimes in accordance with international laws.
“There must be accountability for international crimes. The provisional orders of the International Court of Justice in the case on the application of the Genocide Convention in the Gaza Strip and the determinations in its Advisory Opinion of July 2024 must be implemented now,” Msuya ended.
Genocide on Gaza
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 43,552 Palestinians have been killed, and 102,765 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(The Palestine Chronicle)