UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said the darkest moment of the Gaza conflict is unfolding in the northern Strip, where the Israeli army is effectively subjecting an entire population to bombing, siege and risk of famine, as well as being forced to choose between mass displacement and being trapped in an active conflict zone.
“The shelling in northern Gaza is incessant,” he said Friday. “The Israeli army has ordered the transfer of hundreds of thousands of people, with no guarantees of return. But there is no safe way out. Bombs continue to fall, the Israeli army is separating families and detaining many people, and people fleeing have reportedly been shot at.”
Possible heinous crimes in the north
Calling on world leaders to act, the UN human rights chief said states have a duty under the Geneva Conventions to ensure respect for international humanitarian law.
“It is unimaginable that the situation is getting worse day by day,” he stressed.
“The Israeli government's policies and practices in northern Gaza risk emptying the area of all Palestinians. “We are facing what could amount to atrocity crimes, which could extend to crimes against humanity.”
Stuck in bureaucracy
At the same time, children are being medically evacuated from across Gaza at a rate of less than one child a day, with many suffering from illnesses as serious as head injuries, amputations, burns, cancer and severe malnutrition, said James Elder, spokesman for the the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) told reporters in Geneva on Friday morning.
“This is not a logistical problem.“, said. “We have the capacity to safely transport these children out of Gaza. It is not a capacity problem. In fact, just a few months ago we were evacuating a larger number of children. It is simply a problem that is being completely ignored..”
As the year-long war rages on, children are being medically evacuated from Gaza at a rate of less than one child per day, with many suffering from conditions as serious as head trauma, amputations, burns, cancer and severe malnutrition.
Caught in the clutches of an indifferent bureaucracy, children's pain is brutally compounded, he said, adding that when a patient is denied evacuation, there is nothing that can be done.
No reasons given for denials
If this lethally slow pace continues, it will take more than seven years to evacuate the 2,500 children in need of urgent medical care, Elder warned, adding that COGAT, the acronym for the Israeli authorities responsible for humanitarian affairs in the occupied Gaza Strip, “does not provide reasons for refusals”.
“It is unknown how many child patients have been turned away for medical evacuation. [emergency medical evacuation]”said Mr. Elder.
“Israel's COGAT, which controls entry and exit points into Gaza, only provides a list of approved patients. The status of others is not shared.”
“As a result, children in Gaza are dying, not just because of the bombs, bullets and projectiles that hit them, but because, even when 'miracles happen,' even when bombs explode and houses collapse and casualties mount , but the children survive, then are prevented from leaving Gaza to receive urgent care that would save their lives.”
Human rights violation
From January 1 to May 7, an average of 296 children were medically evacuated each month. Since the Rafah crossing was closed on May 7 due to the Israeli ground offensive there, the number of children medically evacuated has dropped to just 22 per month, or 127 children.
“After more than a year of trying to shed light on the atrocities being committed against children in Gaza, perhaps then this is the clearest and most damning reality: children – deeply sick children – are being denied medical care that could save them. in Gaza and then prevented from leaving to places where help awaits,” Elder said.
“Children are thus denied the medical care that is a basic human right, and those who barely survived the merciless bombing are condemned to die from their injuries.”
There is no escape
“One of the many tragedies of Gaza is that the appalling numbers have failed to spur those in power to act,” he said, sharing the stories of several children he has met who are awaiting medical evacuations.
said there is “There is no escape” for 12-year-old Mazyona.whose siblings were killed when two rockets hit their home, leaving her with devastating facial injuries, shrapnel embedded in her neck requiring medical evacuation for specialized care and bone surgery.
Likewise, he continued, Six-month-old Atef fights muscle cancer and severe malnutrition, and four-year-old Elia, who suffered fourth-degree burns when overnight bombings burned down her home, was allowed to leave Gaza for emergency treatment, but is still waiting because doctors fear they will soon have to amputate her. her hand and other leg if she is not medically evacuated.
“All of this is taking place amid relentless bombing, while Gaza's hospitals have been decimated.leaving them unable to care for the onslaught of child patients,” he warned, adding that medical staff are repeatedly reporting urgent shortages of essential items such as needles, plaster, burn cream, intravenous fluids and painkillers, along with critical items such as wheelchairs. , crutches, hearing aids. aids, even batteries.
Many of the more than 100,000 Palestinians injured during the year of war have lasting disabilities.
Rights experts say disabilities are ignored
For those trapped in Gaza, the needs of people with disabilities are being marginalized, independent UN rights experts said on Friday.
“Many of the nearly 100,000 Palestinians injured in Gaza will acquire lasting disabilities requiring rehabilitation, assistive devices, psychosocial support and other services that are severely lacking,” said the experts, who had already raised these concerns with the Government of Israel.
Experts noted that multiple evacuation orders completely ignored people with disabilities, who often face extreme difficulty following or understanding instructions.
They said Palestinians with disabilities face unbearable protection risks, including inescapable deaths and injuries, amid indiscriminate attacks by Israeli occupation forces that have destroyed critical infrastructure and wiped out the possibility of humanitarian assistance.
“The impact extends beyond physical injuries, with serious emotional and psychological trauma and broader effects on the social fabric and needs of families and communities, especially affecting women who are often the most affected by care. ”.
Indiscriminate attacks
People with disabilities are being killed and injured by indiscriminate attacks despite posing no security threat, epitomizing Israel's deliberate targeting of civilians, warned the independent experts, who do not represent any government or organization and They do not receive a salary for their work.
“They were in the impossible situation of abandoning their homes and the assistive devices they need to survive or being left without their families and caregivers and being exposed to an increased risk of being killed,” they said. “During evacuation attempts, women and girls with disabilities are particularly exposed to greater danger and greater trauma.”
Escalation of violence by Israeli settlers
Referring to the situation of escalating violence by illegal Israeli settlers and Israeli forces, massive destruction of homes and roads and movement restrictions in the West Bank and Jerusalem, experts warned that Palestinians with disabilities in those occupied territories cannot access services health, rehabilitation and other essential services.
“Over the past year, Israel has failed to fulfill its obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law, including the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to take all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities. disability in risk situations, including armed conflict,” the experts said.
The warring parties must immediately agree to a ceasefire, they said. The experts also recalled the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of July 2024, which declared Israel's continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory illegal, amounting to racial segregation and apartheid.
“Israel must comply with its international obligations and the provisional measures ordered by the ICJ regarding its conduct in Gaza that are intended to prevent further acts of genocide,” the experts said.
