“Profound disrespect” a wrecking ball in fragile Gaza Strip

Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer 

December 15, 2023 – The Israel/Hamas war continues, feeding a worsening humanitarian crisis and Dennis Francis, President of the 78th session of the General Assembly, referred to this heartbreaking reality facing Gaza, describing it as an “unprecedented collapse of an already crumbling humanitarian system, in real time.”

Francis expressed that he heavy heartedly read a letter recently sent to him by Philippe Lazzarini, Comissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and the letter, he said, spoke of what he termed, “the devastating deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” which he informed, as the letter pointed out, is worsening.

Francis highlighted that what is being seen now is the “onslaught on civilians, the breakdown of the humanitarian systems and profound disrespect for both international law and international humanitarian law.”

Speaking at a UN meeting on December 12th, he called attention to the graveness of the Gaza situation; the Secretary General  points out the unfortunate death rate for Gaza as we speak.

He said tens of thousands have lost their lives, killed, and nearly 70 percent of them women and children.

Francis continued to refer to another worsening issue, that is displacement, as more people compared to the death rate, he says, have been displaced, leaving them with nowhere safe to go.

Consequently,  hospitals, schools and UN provided shelters, Francis informs, are now overcrowded  and are no longer functioning  as safe havens due to the violent relentless targeting of these areas.

Globally entities would be more than willing to help Gaza in any way possible but as pointed out by The Secretary General, “the blockade on humanitarian assistance has made the delivery of urgently needed life-saving aid near impossible,” leaving the thousands of victims on their own in a severely life threatening environment.

With all this happening, Francis turned to the UN, expressing  that it is time and a responsibility for the Organization to put an end to the rising death toll of innocent people who are not combatants in the war.

Francis later mentioned the unwavering efforts of several countries which he said resulted in a  temporary cooling of the war, bringing the release of detainees and the delivery of some aid. However, this, he said, was not long lasting as December 1st, 2023, marked the start of the violence with a tear jerking level of ferocity.

He continued to ask, “how many more thousands of lives must be lost before we do something,” adding “no more time is left, the carnage must stop.”

There has to be a set and effective solution to end the war, the Secretary General expressed, followed by his promise to support any effort to help Gaza.

“As president of the General Assembly, I am committed to supporting any and all efforts to put an end to the bloodshed and physiological torture of the people in Gaza.”

CAPTION: Destruction in Gaza Strip. © UNICEF/Hassan Islyeh