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    ‘Lethal’ – UN Slams Israel’s Use of ‘Warlike Tactics’ in Occupied West Bank

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    By on Palestine News Live

    By Palestine Chronicle Staff  Twitter X Logo

    Dujarric told a press brief that three of the 11 Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces between November 5 and 11, were targeted by airstrikes.

    The United Nations Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric said on Thursday that Israel continues to use “lethal warlike tactics” in its military operations in the occupied West Bank.

    Quoting the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Dujarric stated that three of the 11 Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces between November 5 and 11, were targeted by airstrikes.

    Furthermore, the UN official outlined the grave consequences of the demolitions Israel continues to conduct in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem on the Palestinian population.

    “Demolitions also continue across the West Bank, displacing people and affecting their livelihoods and access to critical services,” Dujarric told reporters.

    He stressed that most of these demolitions took place in occupied East Jerusalem.

    “Between 5 and 11 November, 50 out of 62 Palestinians displaced, due to demolitions citing lack of permits, were from East Jerusalem, nearly half of those people were children, the UN spokesperson stated.

    Dujarric highlighted the demolition of a residential building in the Al-Bustan area in Silwan, in occupied Jerusalem, which according to the spokesperson housed a community center.

    “This facility was a lifeline for more than 1,000 people, offering workshops, scouting, sports, and cultural activities for women and youth groups,” he stressed. 

    Dujarric  added: “Suffice to say, the loss of this center is a serious blow to that community.”

    Humanitarian Aid to Gaza

    Dujarric also touched on the devastating humanitarian situation in Gaza outlining the enormous obstacles the UN agencies and international aid organizations are facing to deliver assistance to the besieged Strip.

    “Yesterday, our humanitarian colleagues tell us that 14 out of 20 humanitarian trucks collected from the newly opened Kissufim crossing were shot at and looted, injuring three of our drivers,” he said while noting that the remaining six trucks arrived at a warehouse in Deir al-Balah. 

    Dujarric reiterated the UN’s position for the urgent need to open additional routes both to and inside of Gaza, calling on Israel “to facilitate the movement of aid workers and supplies across the Gaza Strip.”

    “But we also need increased access and security assurances — as well as more supplies — so that aid can quickly reach all people in need across Gaza at the scale necessary.  It is also vital that essential commercial goods can enter the Gaza Strip,” he noted.

    Dujarric told reporters that following an assessment of needs conducted with the UN’s humanitarian partners, they concluded that Palestinians in Gaza urgently need shelters, food, hygiene kits, and other essential commodities.

    Moreover, he revealed that following “intense efforts, including advocacy efforts”, the Gaza desalination plant’s power line has been repaired, which is expected to considerably improve the production of desalinated water in the south of Gaza.

    “OCHA says that 20,000 liters of chlorine for the treatment of drinking water have also arrived in the south — enough to ensure safe supplies for up to one month,” he revealed.

    Dujarric said nonetheless that “distribution remains a major challenge due to damaged pipelines, fuel shortages, and the lack of water storage containers,” emphasizing the urgent need for fuel entry into the besieged enclave.

    The UN spokesperson was finally asked by one of the reporters if the Israeli war on Gaza qualifies as genocide, considering the recent findings of a UN special committee on the matter.  

    “In the past you’ve said that the Secretary-General, it’s not his role to call something a genocide or not.  It’s up to the courts, essentially.  Is that still his belief?” the reporter asked.

    “From the Secretary-General’s standpoint, the labeling of an action as genocide has to come from a judicial authority.  We’ve seen it happen in Bosnia-Herzegovina.  We saw it happen also in Rwanda, to name two others,” Dujarric noted.

    Genocide Continues

    Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.

    Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.

    According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 43,736 Palestinians have been killed, and 103,370 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.

    Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

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    Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

    Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

    The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

    The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

    Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety. 

    (The Palestine Chronicle)

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