The UN Security Council discusses the developing situation in the occupied Palestinian territories

United Nations (New York) – On Friday, the UN Security Council will hold closed consultations on developments in the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, in light of the continued aggression of the Zionist occupation for the seventh day in a row against the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, is expected to provide a briefing on the latest developments in the dangerous situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

The Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, will also brief Council members on his efforts and international efforts aimed at securing humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip.

The members of the Council will consult on coordinating efforts aimed at respecting international humanitarian law, stopping the escalation, and opening a humanitarian corridor to and from Gaza to enter basic food and medical supplies, amid the rise in the toll of the Zionist aggression to 1,573 martyrs and 7,262 injured, and the displacement of about a quarter of a million Palestinians from their homes to UN shelter centers, and the destruction of more than a thousand housing units in the Gaza Strip.

On October 10, the World Health Organization called for the establishment of such a corridor, stressing that “hospitals cannot operate without fuel and without electricity.”

It was announced on October 11 that the Gaza power plant had run out of fuel, and OCHA warned that there was a “severe drinking water shortage affecting more than 650,000 people.” In response to the worsening humanitarian tragedy in the Strip, António Guterres said in a statement that “vital life-saving supplies – including fuel, food and water – must be allowed to enter Gaza.” In the same context, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that all 13 hospitals and other health facilities in Gaza are only partially functioning, due to lack of supplies and fuel rationing. He warned that there is a severe shortage of drinking water, affecting 650,000 Palestinians, with the interruption of water supplies by the Zionist occupation of the Gaza Strip.

He added that the Zionist Occupation air strikes caused damage to seven facilities that provided water and sanitation services to more than a million people.

The spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations said that more than a thousand housing units in the Gaza Strip were completely destroyed, and about 560 other housing units were severely damaged and no longer fit for habitation, and 12,630 other units were damaged to a lesser degree.

Yesterday, Thursday, Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh warned against the Zionist entity launching a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, calling on the countries of the world to “rein in aggression.” Shtayyeh said, “Any ground invasion will have catastrophic results and will lead to massacres against our people in Gaza,” and in the context, he pointed out that hundreds of children, women, and innocents were martyred under the rubble of the demolition.

The United Nations has launched an urgent appeal to collect donations to help the Palestinians in the occupied territories.

It stressed the need to provide about $294 million to 77 partners in the humanitarian field, in order to meet the most urgent needs of about 1.26 million people in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

APS