The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that "the war across the Gaza Strip is taking a heavy toll on civilians, depriving them of safety and the means to survive, with daily reports of Israeli airstrikes killing and injuring numerous Palestinian civilians."

The office addressed the massacre committed by Israeli occupation forces when they bombed two homes in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood east of Gaza City, killing 35 civilians, including at least eight children, and wounding dozens, many of whom remain missing under the rubble.

The OCHA office stressed the need to protect civilians under international law and "never make them a target," according to what UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said during a press conference today, Thursday, in New York.

Haq told journalists that the World Health Organization (WHO) had been able to support some medical evacuations from Gaza, with the occupation allowing 18 patients and approximately 30 companions to leave the Strip yesterday to receive specialized treatment. However, he noted that approximately 12,500 patients in Gaza still require medical evacuation, and conveyed the organization's call for them to be allowed to do so through all available border crossings and passages.

OCHA reiterated the urgent need to reopen the crossings to allow essential supplies into the Strip, as supplies within the Strip are running low and the situation is worsening.

Haq pointed out that more than 60,000 Palestinian children in Gaza suffer from malnutrition, "at a time when fuel and supplies are rapidly running out in community kitchens."

Across Gaza, UN partners have warned of severe water shortages in shelters hosting displaced people.

In this regard, Haq said that the water scarcity, along with the lack of cleaning supplies, "negatively impacts public health," with more than a third of households in Gaza suffering from lice infestations in March.

The UN's deputy spokesperson said that the organization's humanitarian partners on the ground identified "more than ten unaccompanied and separated children this week," adding that they are making every effort to reunite these children with their families.