{"id":289934,"date":"2023-10-21T11:34:04","date_gmt":"2023-10-21T15:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=289934"},"modified":"2023-10-24T09:10:54","modified_gmt":"2023-10-24T13:10:54","slug":"the-gaza-strip-the-protection-of-civilians-an-absolute-solemn-obligation-at-all-times-unrwa-commissioner-general-statement","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/the-gaza-strip-the-protection-of-civilians-an-absolute-solemn-obligation-at-all-times-unrwa-commissioner-general-statement\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gaza Strip: The Protection of Civilians an Absolute, Solemn Obligation at All Times – Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Commissioner-General Statement"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
21 October 2023<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

CAIRO\/AMMAN,<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cFor the past two weeks, the war has continued, unabated.\u202f<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cIn the Gaza Strip, relentless air strikes and bombardments, coupled with evacuation orders issued by the Israeli Forces, have displaced <\/span>nearly 1<\/span> million <\/span>people<\/span> and caused the death and injuries of far too many civilians.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cHalf a million people are currently sheltering in Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA facilities across the Gaza Strip. They have come to these Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ facilities in search of safety, and protection. In Khan Younis and Rafah\u2013 <\/span>in the <\/span>south of the <\/span>Gaza Strip- shelters have become overcrowded. Many have taken refuge in Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA buildings that were not set up to be shelters where the living conditions are just untenable.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cCivilians -wherever they are- must be protected<\/span>. <\/span>\u00a0T<\/span>he life of all civilians, the integrity of all Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ facilities and premises, as well as civilian infrastructures<\/span>,<\/span> including hospitals must be shielded from harm and <\/span>protected at all times<\/span> under international humanitarian law.\u202f<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cI emphasise that since the war began on 7 October, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA has been regularly <\/span>providing<\/span> the coordinates of all its facilities across the Gaza Strip to all relevant parties. Nevertheless, at least 35 Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA facilities have been <\/span>impacted<\/span> so far, some were directly hit.<\/span><\/span> \u202f<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cWe are devastated to receive continuous reports of civilians killed\u202fin Gaza, including at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA. To date, 17 of our colleagues have been confirmed killed in this vicious war. Very sadly, the actual numbers are likely to be higher. Some of our staff were killed with their families while sleeping in their beds at home. \u202f<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cNo words can describe the levels of condemnations of all atrocities and violations, everywhere. I – once again- recall the non-negotiable legal obligations incumbent on all parties to the conflict to protect the lives of civilians, wherever they are, <\/span>at all times<\/span>, and to refrain from attacks on civilian facilities, including schools, hospitals, places of worship, and civilians\u2019 homes, including those of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA staff. These are basic, moral imperatives of our collective humanity.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u202f\u00a0\u201cLet me be clear: protecting civilians in times of conflict is not an aspiration or an ideal; it is an obligation and a commitment to our shared humanity.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u202f\u00a0\u201cI echo the calls from the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Secretary-General on all parties to reach an urgent humanitarian ceasefire. This is the only way out of this mayhem; any other way will plunge Gaza \u2013 and the world \u2013 deeper into fathomless, dark depths.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

21 October 2023 CAIRO\/AMMAN, \u201cFor the past two weeks, the war has continued, unabated.\u202f \u201cIn the Gaza Strip, relentless air strikes and bombardments, coupled with evacuation orders issued by the Israeli Forces, have displaced nearly 1 million people and caused the death and injuries of far too many civilians.\u00a0 \u201cHalf a million people are currently […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":301,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[1338],"document-source":[1817],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1769,5449,1829,2005,1741,5200],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-289934","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-statement","document-source-united-nations-relief-and-works-agency-for-palestine-refugees-in-the-near-east-unrwa","document-subject-armed-conflict","document-subject-assistance-to-the-palestinian-people","document-subject-casualties","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law","document-subject-humanitarian-relief","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/289934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/301"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/289934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":289950,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/289934\/revisions\/289950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=289934"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=289934"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=289934"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=289934"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=289934"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=289934"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=289934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}