United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed "shock at the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where the last means of livelihood that keep people alive are collapsing," Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary-General, said in a statement, while 33 people have died of hunger in the last 48 hours. Guterres deplores the increasing reports of children and adults suffering from malnutrition, the spokesman continued in a statement.
The Secretary-General also strongly condemns the ongoing violence, including shootings, killings and injuries of people trying to find food for their families.
"Civilians must be protected and respected and must never be targeted. The population of Gaza continues to suffer severe shortages of basic necessities. Israel has an obligation to allow and facilitate, by all means at its disposal, humanitarian assistance provided by the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations," the spokesman added.
"The Secretary-General emphasizes that the intensification of hostilities in recent days comes at a time when the humanitarian system is being hampered, weakened and endangered.
"A new evacuation order in parts of Deir al-Balah, where tens of thousands of people live, is pushing people into even more desperate conditions and further displacement, while limiting the United Nations' ability to provide life-saving assistance," he added.
UN staff, he further specified, remain in Deir al-Balah, and two UN reception houses were targeted, "despite the fact that the parties have been informed of the location of UN premises, which are inviolable. These sites, like all civilian sites, must be protected, despite evacuation orders."
Meanwhile, according to the director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), since the end of May, more than 1,000 starving people have been killed while searching for food in Gaza.
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