The United Nations has called for an end to the carnage afflicting war-torn Gaza during Israel’s military campaign, according to a top UN aid official’s comments released on Friday.
“The present course chosen by the Israeli authorities will not bring the peace and stability that both Israelis and Palestinians want and deserve,” Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations’ agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), wrote in a media opinion piece.
“Razing entire neighborhoods to the ground is not an answer for the egregious crimes committed by Hamas.
“To the contrary, it is creating a new generation of aggrieved Palestinians who are likely to continue the cycle of violence. The carnage simply must stop.”
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters poured across the border on October 7, killing 1,400 people across southern Israel, mostly civilians, and taking around 240 hostage.
More than 10,800 people, majority also civilians, have been killed in retaliatory Israeli strikes and fighting in the Gaza Strip, the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory says.