UN Aid Agency Calls For Gaza Ceasefire To End 'decimation' Of Palestinian Lives

Gaza Strip, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Dec, 2023) The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) called on Friday for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to end the "decimation" of Palestinian lives there.

Philippe Lazzarini urged in a statement all UN member states to take "actions to implement an immediate humanitarian ceasefire" in Gaza.

"Calling for an end to the decimation of the lives of Palestinians in Gaza is not a denial of the abhorrent attacks of 7 October in Israel," he continued.

"It is the opposite. It is a recognition of the equal rights of all people."

In addition to the thousands killed in the fighting, vast areas of Gaza have been reduced to a wasteland.

The UN says about 80 percent of the population has been displaced and is facing dire shortages of food, fuel, water and medicine, along with the growing threat of disease.

On Friday, Hamas pointed the finger in part at UNRWA, accusing it of "humiliating" the population by not distributing flour in some areas, or too slowly in others.

"We have noticed a deliberate slowdown by UNRWA, as if it does not want to put an end to the flour distribution crisis," the Hamas said.

In the same statement, Hamas also went on to call for a ceasefire.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Friday that nearly 17,500 people, mostly women and children, had been killed by the war so far.

Guterres has convened an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday for a vote on a resolution calling for a ceasefire.