UN Human Rights Chief Calls for Sufficient Aid Deliveries into Gaza

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk commented on the situation in Gaza, after paying a visit to the Rafah crossing on Wednesday.

"The symbolic lifeline for the last month for the 2.3 million people in Gaza. The lifeline has been unjustly, outrageously thin. In Rafah, I have witnessed the gates to a living nightmare," Türk said during a media briefing at UN headquarters in Egypt.

He continued: "A nightmare, where people have been suffocating, under persistent bombardment, mourning their families, struggling for water, for food, for electricity and fuel. My colleagues are among those trapped, and among those who have lost family members, suffering sleepless nights filled with agony, anguish and despair."

The High Commissioner also affirmed that the atrocities perpetrated by Palestinian armed groups, and the continued holding of hostages, were heinous and constituted war crimes.

“The collective punishment by Israel of Palestinian civilians is also a war crime, as is unlawful forcible evacuation of civilians,” he noted.

In the same connection, the top UN official praised Egypt, saying that its role has been key in many respects, and has been indispensable in getting humanitarian assistance into Gaza and for injured people to leave Gaza.

In conclusion, he demanded sufficient aid deliveries into Gaza, and the release of all hostages, and stressed that Israel’s own obligations as an occupying power also continue to apply in full, requiring it to ensure a maximum of basic necessities of life can reach all who need it.