A senior UN official warned on Monday that Israeli airstrikes and military operations have continued across the Gaza Strip, resulting in further fatalities, as the situation across the Occupied Palestinian Territory remained “volatile.”
“Since the 12 June cutoff date for the written report, the situation across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has remained volatile,” Ramiz Alakbarov, UN deputy special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told the UN Security Council.
Noting that “Israeli airstrikes and military operations have continued across Gaza, resulting in further fatalities,” he said the total killed since the ceasefire has surpassed 1,000, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
According to Israel, it currently controls approximately 70% of the Gaza Strip, he added, and continues to expand the scope of its territorial control, widening the areas requiring coordination for humanitarian operations.
Expressing deep concern over reports of intimidation during protests in Gaza on June 26, he said: “Civilians must be able to exercise their rights peacefully, without fear, and must be protected at all times.”
“Despite the ceasefire announced eight months ago, Gaza still faces profound uncertainty and immense human suffering,” Alakbarov said, as he condemned “the continued killing and injury of civilians in Gaza, including women and children.”
Turning to the occupied West Bank, he said the situation, including in East Jerusalem, has continued to deteriorate, with Israeli military activity ongoing in and around refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarm, resulting in the evacuation and displacement of Palestinian households, including refugee families.
“I am deeply concerned by the steps taken by Israeli authorities to implement formal land registration in Area C,” he said. “There is a serious risk that this decision will facilitate further settlement expansion and entrenchment of the unlawful occupation.”
He condemned all violence against civilians, including acts of terror, and echoed the secretary-general’s deep concern over persistent and intensifying Israeli occupier attacks.
“I am particularly concerned by the recent increasing calls for a resumption of widespread hostilities in Gaza,” he added.
