The labour weekend road toll remains at zero with less than 24 hours to go. The country still has a shortage of doctors. Far right US commentator Candace Owens hopes to tour NZ.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Sunday he was “shocked by harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction” in north Gaza, where Israeli forces are carrying out attacks they say aim to prevent Hamas regrouping.
“The plight of Palestinian civilians trapped in North Gaza is unbearable,” Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
“The Secretary-General is shocked by the harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction in the north, with civilians trapped under rubble, the sick and wounded going without life-saving health care, and families lacking food and shelter.”
Israel, vowing to stop Hamas militants from regrouping in the north of the Palestinian territory, launched a major air and ground assault on October 6 this year.
Palestinians search for survivors inside a destroyed building, hit in an overnight Israeli airstrike, in Beit Lahia the northern Gaza Strip on October 27. Photo / AFP
The UN spokesman said that according to Gaza’s health ministry, hundreds of people have been killed in recent weeks and more than 60,000 others were forced to flee.
“Repeated efforts to deliver humanitarian supplies essential to survive – food, medicine and shelter – continue to be denied by the Israeli authorities, with few exceptions, putting countless lives in peril,” Dujarric said.
“In the name of humanity, the Secretary-General reiterates his calls for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and accountability for crimes under international law.”
Palestinians inspect the damage after an overnight Israeli airstrike in Beit Lahia the northern Gaza Strip on October 27. Photo / AFP
Later Sunday, Gaza civil defence agency’s spokesman, Mahmud Bassal, slammed Israel’s ongoing “siege” in the areas of Jabalia, Beit Hanun and Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, saying 100,000 people were trapped.
