MONITORING (SW) – The United Nations has condemned the “large number of civilian casualties” caused by Israeli strikes on northern Gaza in recent days.
The comments – made by a spokesperson for Secretary General Antonio Guterres – come as at least 10 people have reportedly been killed by Israeli artillery fire at a food distribution center at Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, where Israeli tanks and troops are continuing a ground offensive, reported BBC.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said shells hit inside and outside the center on Monday morning as some hungry people were trying to get food handouts.
The Israeli military said it was reviewing the incident, adding that it operates “only against terror targets”.
Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed since the military said it was launching the offensive in the area and two neighbouring northern towns nine days ago to root out Hamas fighters who had regrouped there.
The UN said on Sunday that more than 50,000 people had fled the Jabalia area, but that others remained stranded in their homes amid increased bombardment and fighting on the ground. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said civilians must “be protected at all times”.
“The secretary general condemns the large number of civilian casualties in the intensifying Israeli campaign in northern Gaza, including its schools, displacing sheltered Palestinian civilians,” he told reporters at a news conference in New York.
The offensive had also forced the closure of water wells, bakeries, medical points and shelters, as well as the suspension of other humanitarian services, including malnutrition treatment, it warned.
The UN said it had not been allowed to deliver essential supplies, including food, since 1 October, with two nearby border crossings closed and no deliveries allowed from the south.
The Israeli military said a convoy of 30 aid lorries entered through a crossing south of Gaza City on Sunday, when US President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of what the White House called the “imperative to restore access to the north”.
The military has ordered residents of Jabalia and neighbouring areas to evacuate to the Israeli-designated “humanitarian area” in southern Gaza, saying it is “operating with great force against the terrorist organizations and will continue to do so for a long time”.
But many of the estimated 400,000 Palestinians living in the north say they are reluctant to flee to the south, fearing that if they do they will not be allowed to return home.
Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
More than 42,280 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
