AMN / WEB DESK
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, began a five-day visit to the Middle East on Tuesday to hold talks with government officials and civil society on the human rights violations taking place amid Israel’s escalation in Gaza.
“It has been one full month of carnage, of incessant suffering, bloodshed, destruction, outrage and despair,” Turk said in a statement. “Human rights violations are at the root of this escalation and human rights play a central role in finding a way out of this vortex of pain.”
Turk is in Cairo on Tuesday and will visit Rafah, located on the border with Gaza, on Wednesday, before he travels to the Jordanian capital of Amman on Thursday, his office said.
A month since Hamas militants killed 1,400 people in Israel, taking over 240 hostage, and as the Israeli offensive into Gaza continues which has led to thousands of civilian deaths, UN humanitarians on Tuesday issued a heartfelt appeal for access to the enclave.
“Every day, you think it is the worst day and then the next day is worse,” UN health agency spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said, quoting a colleague in Gaza, which remains under almost complete blockade. “Access, access, access is necessary.”
160 children killed daily
The level of death and suffering is “hard to fathom”, Mr. Lindmeier told journalists in Geneva. On average, 160 children are killed every day in the enclave and the total death toll has passed 10,000, according to figures from the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Meanwhile, in the Hamas-run enclave, Israeli bombardments have intensified and military operations on the ground are continuing against fighters linked to the 7 October attacks.
In Israel, people are “frightened, traumatized and anguished for their loved ones”, the UN World Health Organization (WHO’s) Mr. Lindmeier said, before reiterating wide-ranging calls on Hamas to release the hostages.
Many of those held captive need urgent medical attention, he stressed.