The Israeli bombardment has continued across Gaza for a third day. At least 110 people have been killed since dawn, our colleagues on the ground report. At least 200 children have been killed in the last three days.
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has said “we are fearing that the worst is yet to come given the ongoing ground invasion separating the north from the south,” as Israel’s bombardment continues from air & sea for the third day.
Lazzarini added, “evacuation orders forcing people to flee were issued impacting tens of thousands of people. The vast majority have been already displaced, treated like “pinballs” since the war began nearly 1.5 years ago.”
He also noted that In the past few days, “another five UNRWA
staff have been confirmed killed, bringing the death toll to 284. They were teachers, doctors and nurses: serving the most vulnerable.”
Lazzarini said as the siege on the war-torn enclave tightens “under our daily watch, people in Gaza are again & again going through their worst nightmare. An endless unleashing of the most inhumane ordeals.”
He called for immediate ceasefire, the release of all captives, and the resumption of aid into Gaza.
US Ambassador Dorothy Shea has told the UN Security Council that Hamas “bears the sole responsibility for the war and the resumption of hostilities” in Gaza, after a failure to respond to President Donald Trump’s warnings.
“Trump has been clear: Hamas must release all hostages now or there will be hell to pay,” Shea said.
She added that while “fighting could end tomorrow if Hamas released the hostages and laid down its weapons,” the group “refused time and time again to accept proposals to extend the ceasefire.”
“We must recognise Hamas for what it is: a savage terrorist organisation that purposefully committed the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” Shea said.
Hamas refused attempts by the US and Israel to extend the first phase of the ceasefire, but remained committed to implementing the three phase deal in its original form, all had agreed on, which required moving to the second phase of the agreement that included the release of more captives and a permanent end to the war.
EU leaders have said that they deplore the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza, which came as Israel reignited the war three days ago, and Hamas’s refusal to hand over the remaining captives.
“The European Council deplores the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza, which has caused a large number of civilian casualties in recent air strikes,” the council said in a statement. “It deplores the refusal of Hamas to hand over the remaining hostages.”
The council called for an “immediate return to the full implementation of the ceasefire-hostage release agreement” as well as for “unimpeded access” and sustained distribution of humanitarian assistance at scale into and throughout Gaza.
“This access and distribution, as well as the supply of electricity to Gaza, including for the water desalination plants, must be resumed immediately,” the statement read.