The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East has affirmed that the protection of civilians in the Gaza Strip constitutes an urgent humanitarian priority amid the sharp deterioration of conditions on the ground, warning of the grave risks posed by continued exposure of the civilian population to harm and the disruption of vital assistance.
The agency stressed the imperative of ensuring safe and sustained humanitarian access, encompassing primary healthcare, education, food assistance and emergency relief for the most vulnerable families. It underlined that the continued provision of these essential services depends directly on safeguarding humanitarian personnel and securing humanitarian facilities and infrastructure.
The agency further noted that its operations in the Gaza Strip remain ongoing despite formidable challenges, pursuant to its United Nations mandate to provide support to hundreds of thousands of refugees who rely fundamentally on its services. It cautioned that any obstruction of humanitarian teams places civilian lives in immediate jeopardy.
The agency called upon the international community and relevant actors to guarantee a safe environment enabling humanitarian teams to carry out their duties without restriction, in order to ensure the protection of civilians and the uninterrupted flow of life saving assistance to all those in need across the Gaza Strip.
These warnings arise within the framework of the occupying power’s obligations under international humanitarian law, which requires the protection of civilians, the safeguarding of their right to life, food and healthcare, and prohibits the use of civilians as hostages or as impediments to humanitarian access.
The obstruction of humanitarian operations by Israeli occupation authorities, or the targeting of healthcare facilities, schools and relief centres, constitutes a grave breach of international law. Such practices further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and place the international community under an urgent responsibility to act to ensure civilian protection and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
