UN official warns Israeli acts in Gaza ‘reminiscent of gravest international crimes’

“Since the escalation of this conflict in October 2023, we have briefed this Council on no fewer than 16 occasions,” Joyce Msuya, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator, told a UN Security Council session on Palestine.

Condemning the toll of the recent escalations, Msuya said civilians have been “driven from their homes, stripped of their sense of place and dignity” and often forced to witness the deaths of their family members.

She recounted the horrific conditions facing injured children, who in some cases have had the words “Wounded Child, No Surviving Family” written on their arms.

Emphasizing that Gaza’s destruction has reached an unprecedented scale, with over 70% of civilian housing damaged or destroyed, Msuya asked: “What distinction was made, and what precautions were taken?”

“We are witnessing acts reminiscent of the gravest international crimes,” she stressed.

She noted that the “latest offensive that Israel started in North Gaza last month is an intensified, extreme and accelerated version of the horrors of the past year.”

Israel’s relentless attacks are now affecting approximately 75,000 people trapped in North Gaza with limited food and water supplies, she added.

Criticizing the Israeli blockade of fuel needed to operate digging equipment to rescue civilians trapped under rubble, Msuya decried that “the daily cruelty we see in Gaza seems to have no limits”.

“People under siege now tell us they are afraid that they will be targeted if they receive help,” she continued.

Msuya further raised alarm over the Israeli Knesset’s recent bill that aims to ban the activities of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) starting in January.

“If implemented, this bill will be another devastating blow to efforts to provide lifesaving aid and avert the threat of famine. No other organization can fill these gaps,” she warned.

Calling for immediate international action, Msuya urged UN member states to use “diplomatic and economic pressure, responsible arms transfers, and combating impunity” to prevent further suffering.

She implored the Security Council to employ “its powers under the UN Charter to ensure compliance with international law and full implementation of its resolutions”.

The Israeli army has continued a deadly onslaught in northern Gaza since early October to reportedly prevent the Palestinian resistance group Hamas from regrouping amid a siege on the area. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.

More than 1,900 people have been killed and thousands more wounded in northern Gaza since the offensive began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The aggression is the latest episode in a brutal Israeli war on Gaza since an attack by Hamas in October last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 43,600 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 102,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli assault has displaced almost the territory’s entire population amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.