Gaza faces ‘worst’ humanitarian crisis since war began: UN
GAZA CITY
The United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is now "likely to be the worst it has been" since Israel's relentless attacks began 18 months ago.
"It has now been a month and a half since any supplies were allowed through the crossings into Gaza, by far the longest such halt to date," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said during a news conference.
Expressing the grim situation in Gaza, Dujarric said there is "a surge in attacks causing mass civilian casualties and the destruction of some remaining infrastructure that's needed to keep people alive."
"It has now been a month and a half since any supplies were allowed through the crossings into Gaza, by far the longest such halt to date," he added.
Expressing the grim situation in the Gaza Strip, Dujarric said there is "a surge in attacks causing mass civilian casualties and the destruction of some remaining infrastructure that's needed to keep people alive."
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French President Emmanuel Macron that the establishment of a Palestinian state would be a "huge reward for terrorism".
Macron, meanwhile, posted on X that he had told Netanyahu the suffering of civilians in Gaza "must end" and only a ceasefire in the war with Hamas would free the remaining Israeli hostages in the territory.
"The prime minister told the French president that a Palestinian state established just minutes away from Israeli cities would become a stronghold of Iranian terrorism, and that a vast majority of the Israeli public firmly opposes this - and this has been his consistent and long-standing policy."
For his part, the French president said he told Netanyahu that "the ordeal the civilian populations of Gaza are going through must end," and called for "the opening of all humanitarian aid crossings" into the besieged Palestinian territory.
Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official on Tuesday said that the group expects to respond within 48 hours to an Israeli ceasefire proposal it received through mediators.
Israel’s offer includes a truce of at least 45 days in return for the release of 10 living hostages held in Gaza.
It also provides for the release of 1,231 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and the entry of humanitarian aid into the territory, which has been under complete blockade since March 2.
The proposal calls for a "permanent end to the war" on the condition Palestinian factions in Gaza, including Hamas, disarm, the official said.
Hamas has rejected the disarmament demand as a "red line" and "non-negotiable.”
Israel has yet to comment on the proposal's contents.
Of the 251 hostages seized during the unprecedented October 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the war, 58 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Since the start of the war, Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 51,000 people, according to an updated toll released by Gaza's Health Ministry on Tuesday.
That includes more than 1,600 people killed since Israel ended a ceasefire and resumed its offensive last month to pressure Hamas to accept changes to the agreement.
The ministry is led by medical professionals but reports to the Hamas-run government. Its toll is seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts, though Israel has challenged its numbers. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.
