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UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos expressed her concern for the current situation in Gaza and described a ceasefire as “vital”.
She said that due to the conflict, 44% of Gaza is a no-go area for Palestinians and civilians in Gaza were running out of food. According to officials, over 30 Israelis and 710 Palestinians have been killed in the last 16 days.
Israeli air strikes and ground operations are still ongoing, after it started its military offensive on July 8th; Israel had started the operation with the stated objective of stopping Hamas rocket fire.
On Thursday, Valerie Amos said, “We have over 118,000 people now who are sheltering in UN schools… people are running out of food. Water is also a serious concern”. She added that the current situation in Gaza was “terrible” and “dire”, she added.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Israeli military has designated a three-kilometer wide strip of land, encompassing about 44% of Gaza, as a no-go zone. Amos added that nobody has denied Israel its right to defend itself, but there were serious concerns for civilians on the ground.
Meanwhile, the US Federal Aviation Authority has lifted its ban on US airliners flying to Tel Aviv enforced on Tuesday after a rocket had landed around 1.6 kilometers away from Ben Gurion airport. Several European airlines, however, still continue to avoid flights to Tel Aviv.
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Said that while he deeply regretted the deaths of Palestinian civilians, they were “the responsibility of Hamas”. He was at a joint press conference with UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who said that the violence was triggered by Hamas “firing hundreds of rockets at Israeli towns and cities indiscriminately”.