Bethlehem / PNN /
Lynn Hastings, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in the Palestinian territories, issued a warning today, Thursday, stating that there is "no safe place in Gaza" due to the central Israeli airstrikes on the region since October 7.
Hastings emphasized in a press statement published by the "France Presse" agency that the advance warnings issued by the Israeli army for citizens to evacuate areas targeted in the north of the strip "make no difference," adding that "there is no safe place in Gaza."
She said, "When evacuation routes are bombed, when people in the north, as in the south, are exposed to hostilities, when basic necessities for survival are not available, and when there is no guarantee of return, people are left with impossible choices."
Hastings added that armed conflicts, wherever they are governed by international humanitarian law, mean that civilians must be protected and have the basic means to continue wherever they are, whether they choose to move or stay.
In a preliminary statistic, the Ministry of Health announced that the death toll from the continuous Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has risen to more than 7,000 martyrs and over 18,000 wounded since the beginning of the current October.
Gaza has been under a tight blockade since 2007, but the Israeli occupation government has tightened the blockade on the strip since the start of the aggression twenty days ago, including cutting off electricity and water, and preventing the entry of basic materials and fuel.
The organization "Oxfam" had stated in a report that Israel is using the policy of starvation as a weapon of war against civilians in Gaza and renewed its call to allow the entry of food, water, fuel, and other necessities to the Gaza Strip, which has been under continuous aggression since the beginning of the current October.
International humanitarian law strictly prohibits the use of starvation as a war tool, and as the occupying power in Gaza, Israel is obligated under international humanitarian law to provide for the needs of Gaza's population and protect them.
