Number of casualties in Gaza ‘unacceptable’: UN

WASHINGTON (AA) – A UN spokesman on Wednesday voiced concern over the surging death toll in the Gaza Strip as Israel’s war on the enclave continued for the 75th day.

“The number has been unacceptable and huge and sheer and whatever adjective you want to use for quite some time,” Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

“Again, we want to see a humanitarian cease-fire. We want to see the guns fall silent as we can reach the people of Gaza who need the most help right now,” he said.

Dujarric, who is the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, also stressed the importance of re-establishing a political path to a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.

On the delayed UN Security Council vote that was to take place on a resolution urging the suspension of hostilities in Gaza to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, he said deliberations in the 15-member council continued.

“We’ll see what comes out of their discussions not for us to interfere with those discussions which, I understand, are fairly intense.

“The secretary-general’s own position is unchanged. He’s been calling for humanitarian cease-fire, and also he’s been calling for the creation of the conditions on the ground to be conducive for broader delivery of humanitarian aid,” he added.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, killing over 20,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 52,586 others, according to health authorities in the enclave.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins with half of the coastal territory’s housing stock damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely-populated enclave amid shortages of food and clean water.

Fewer than 1,150 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.