Middle East crisis live: northern Gaza ‘smells of death after non-stop Israeli bombardments’, says Unrwa chief

Guardian:

Middle East crisis live: northern Gaza ‘smells of death after non-stop Israeli bombardments’, says Unrwa chief

Philippe Lazzarini says staff report shortages of water, food and medical care with bodies left under rubble or on roads after three weeks of bombardments

21.25 AEDT

The smell of death is everywhere in northern Gaza after 'non-stop Israeli bombardments', Unrwa chief says

Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general of the UN relief agency for Palestinians, Unrwa, has described the toll of three weeks of “non-stop” Israeli bombardments on northern Gaza.

He said his staff are reporting shortages of water, food and medical care, with the “smell of death” everywhere across the territory because dead bodies are being left under rubble or lying on the roads.

“Missions to clear the bodies or provide humanitarian assistance are denied. In northern Gaza, people are just waiting to die. They feel deserted, hopeless and alone. They live from one hour to the next, fearing death at every second,” Lazzarini said in a post on X.

He called for an “immediate truce” even if just for a few hours to enable Palestinian families to flee safely without being killed by Israeli bombardments. “This is the bare minimum to save the lives of civilians who have nothing to do with this conflict,” Lazzarini said.

Unrwa provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, with the agency acting as the backbone of aid operations in Gaza since last October.

Sweeping evacuation orders for the estimated 400,000 people still living in the northern third of the territory, the blockage of aid and food deliveries and the targeting of civilian infrastructure have led to accusations that Israel is committing the war crime of seeking to forcibly displace the remaining population.

Displaced Palestinians ordered to evacuate their neighbourhoods are pictured in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Reuters