<\/p>\n
07 October 2025<\/p>\n
Two years since the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel, UN humanitarians on Tuesday reiterated calls for the release of all hostages in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire and an aid surge to alleviate Palestinians\u2019 suffering, as talks on a US-driven peace plan continued in Egypt.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pain is indescribable\u201d on the anniversary of the \u201cabhorrent\u201d attacks, said UN relief chief Tom Fletcher, in a statement shared with media in Geneva by UN aid coordination office (OCHA) spokesperson Jens Laerke.<\/p>\n
\u201cI renew my call for the unconditional, immediate release of all the hostages \u2013 and until then, they must be treated humanely,\u201d Mr. Fletcher\u2019s statement continued. \u201cCivilians everywhere have to be protected.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Fletcher underscored the fact that since 7 October 2023 tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed and \u201chundreds of thousands endure starvation and displacement\u201d.<\/p>\n
More than 1,250 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed in the attacks while more than 250 others were taken hostage. More than 66,000 Palestinians have subsequently been killed in the war in Gaza according to local health authorities.<\/p>\n
The UN relief chief also renewed calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for humanitarian aid to \u201cflow freely at the scale needed\u201d.<\/p>\n
Highlighting the continuing obstacles to aid delivery, OCHA\u2019s Mr. Laerke said that over the past two years, out of more than 8,000 requests for humanitarian missions inside Gaza where coordination with the Israeli authorities was needed, 45 per cent were denied or impeded en route.<\/p>\n
The UN Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF) also noted that teams in Gaza are still waiting for a green light to fetch incubators and ventilators for premature babies evacuated from the north of the Strip.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve managed to move [the babies] to another facility when the hospital they were in needed to be evacuated, but we haven’t managed to move the incubators\u2026 it’s been denied so far,\u201d said spokesperson Ricardo Pires.<\/p>\n
The go-ahead \u201cto move our convoys to pick up those incubators [is] not being given because of safety and military operations happening on the ground\u201d, Mr. Pires explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne in every five [children] born in Gaza is born premature without the infrastructure to receive them and keep them safe and alive,\u201d he stressed. \u201cWe’re talking about children sharing oxygen masks in order to stay alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UNICEF spokesperson went on to say that 61,000 children have reportedly been either killed or maimed \u201csince the horrors Hamas unleashed in Israel and what followed after the disproportionate response from Israel, that is still ongoing\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat’s an average of one child either killed or maimed every 17 minutes,\u201d he said, \u201can unacceptable, staggering figure\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr. Pires deplored the fact that children have been \u201csuffering in their bodies and their minds for way too long\u201d, traumatized and \u201cexposed to horrors that no child should ever have to look at or live\u201d.<\/p>\n
Famine and malnutrition are part of daily life in Gaza and World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Christian Lindmeier recalled that over half a million people are trapped in the famine in Gaza, as per the latest UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report in August. He said that \u201c640,000 people [are] facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity\u201d and that WHO has verified 400 malnutrition-related deaths, including those of 101 children.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know that most indicators are worsening,\u201d said UNICEF\u2019s Mr. Pires, warning that the famine that was declared in Gaza City \u201cis slowly moving to the South as more people get displaced, leaving what is now again a combat zone\u201d.<\/p>\n
Referring to the peace plan put forward by US President Donald Trump, which has been the object of negotiations in Egypt for a second day straight, Mr. Pires welcomed \u201cthe plans by the US Government which bring a glimpse of hope to the region and to civilians and children in Gaza, that a better future is ahead\u201d.<\/p>\n
His words echoed those of UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres who, in a statement on Monday, said that the recent proposal by the US President \u201cpresents an opportunity to that must be seized to bring this tragic conflict to an end\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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