UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric condemned the killing of more than 1,000 people, including women and children, since the collapse of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on March 18.

In his daily press briefing on Wednesday, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said that extensive Israeli bombardment and ground operations have resulted in widespread destruction and the displacement of more than 100,000 Palestinians from Rafah in the past two days alone, most of whom have been displaced multiple times.

Deadly attack on medical personnel

"The Secretary-General is shocked by the Israeli military's attack on a medical and emergency convoy on 23 March, which resulted in the deaths of 15 medical and humanitarian workers in Gaza," Dujarric said.

Dujarric stressed the need for all parties to the conflict to protect medical, humanitarian, and emergency personnel at all times, and to respect and protect civilians, in accordance with international humanitarian law. He emphasized the need to end the obstruction of life-saving assistance. Since October 2023, at least 408 aid workers have been killed in Gaza, including 280 UN humanitarian workers.

Resumption of the ceasefire

Dujarric stated that the Secretary-General honors all humanitarian workers killed in this conflict and calls for a full, comprehensive, and independent investigation into these incidents.

The UN Secretary-General reiterated his strong condemnation of the attacks launched by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups against Israel on 7 October 2023, stressing that there is no justification for terrorist attacks or collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

Secretary-General Guterres reiterated his urgent call for an immediate resumption of the ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and unhindered humanitarian access throughout Gaza.

The United Nations rejects any attempt at demographic or regional change.

When Dujarric was asked about Israel's announced plans to seize more territory in Gaza, he referred to the UN Secretary-General's statement that Security Council Resolution 2735 (2024) rejects any attempt at demographic or territorial change in the Gaza Strip, including any measures that would reduce the area of Gaza, he said.

In this regard, Spokesperson Dujarric said: "The Secretary-General expresses his growing concern about the inflammatory rhetoric calling on the Israeli army to 'seize vast areas of land to be added to the security zones of the State of Israel.'"

Even the ruins have become a target.

Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said on Wednesday that Israeli forces bombed one of its buildings in Jabalia, northern Gaza.

He said in a social media post that the building, previously a health center, had been severely damaged earlier in the war. He added that in Gaza, "even rubble has become a target."

Initial reports indicate that the facility was housing more than 700 people when it was bombed, and that "among those reportedly killed were nine children, including a two-week-old baby," Lazzarini said, noting that displaced families remained in the shelter after it was bombed "because they had nowhere else to go."

Investigate all attacks

Since the beginning of the war, more than 300 UN buildings have been destroyed or damaged, despite regularly sharing the coordinates of these locations with the parties to the conflict. He said that more than 700 people have been killed while seeking UN protection.

Lazzarini added that many UNRWA buildings were also reportedly used for military and combat purposes by Palestinian armed groups, including Hamas, or by Israeli forces.

"This complete disregard for UN personnel, premises, or operations is a flagrant violation of international law," he said. "I reiterate my call for independent investigations into the circumstances of each of these attacks and grave violations. In Gaza, all lines have been crossed time and again."

Gaza is a "death trap"

For his part, Jonathan Whittall, Acting Head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territory, described the situation in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday as a "war without borders." He described what is happening there as an "endless cycle of blood, pain, and death," saying, "Gaza has become a death trap."

The senior official indicated that he was unsure of what to say to describe the situation on the ground, but decided not to mince his words, especially after coordinating a mission on Sunday to uncover a mass grave containing several humanitarian workers killed in Rafah. He said the slain medics were "still wearing their uniforms and gloves" and were killed while trying to save lives. He added that their ambulances were "hit one by one" as they entered an area where Israeli forces were advancing. He noted that the grave in which they were buried was equipped with an emergency light from one of the ambulances.

Whittall said he began highlighting this case because it symbolizes the state of the sector today: "What's happening here defies morality, defies humanity, and defies the law." "It's truly a war without borders."

He added that forced displacement orders resumed after the ceasefire collapsed, and that 64% of the Gaza Strip is now subject to enforced forced displacement orders imposed by Israel or within the so-called "buffer zone," a month after the Israeli blockade on Gaza began.

"Nowhere and no one is safe," according to Whittal, who quoted colleagues as saying they "want to die with their families" and that their worst fear is surviving alone.

"We cannot accept that Palestinian civilians are treated so inhumanely that they do not deserve to survive," he said, noting that a month has passed since aid was blocked from entering Gaza.

In response to journalists' questions, he said that there is no other place in the world, to his knowledge, where a population of 2.1 million is living under siege, deprived of all forms of humanitarian aid, with the commercial sector destroyed, and then expected to be entirely dependent on aid in a besieged and bombarded area.

He added that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is worsening and spiraling out of control, with all bakeries supported by the UN World Food Programme closed, markets reduced to rubble, ambulance crews killed, and people subjected to attacks on the aid system. Whittall emphasized the absence of humanitarian solutions to the problems facing Gaza. He explained that the crisis requires political action that begins with accountability, emphasizing that aid cannot compensate for political failures.

End the brutality

He warned, "I think it's important for us to realize that what happens in Gaza will not stay in Gaza. We cannot allow the rules-based order to be replaced by one set of rules for some people and another set for others."

1. The UN official expressed his hope that member states would use their political and economic influence to enforce international law, that a ceasefire would be reached to stop the massacre and free the hostages, and that "the Palestinians would finally be seen as human beings, and that this brutality would end."