Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, on Tuesday said that the Gaza war “ranks amongst the worst assaults on any civilian population in our time and age.’’
Egeland said in a statement that severe restrictions on aid access into the Gaza Strip have aggravated the situation, “leading to starvation among Gaza’s population and intensifying an already dire humanitarian crisis.’’
He added that 1.9 million people, or almost the entire population, have been displaced and nearly two in three homes are damaged or destroyed.
“Tens of thousands live on the streets of southern Gaza, where under bombardment, they are forced to improvise basic shelters from whatever they can get hold of,’’ he said.
He stressed that those responsible “for the killings, the torture, and the atrocities’’ committed in Israel on Oct. 7 must be held accountable.
“We again demand that all hostages are immediately and unconditionally released, neither the lives of innocent children, women or men, nor the ability of aid workers to access the vulnerable, should be used as bargaining chips,’’ Egeland said.
“The situation in Gaza is a total failure of our shared humanity. The killing must stop,’’ Egeland said. (dpa/NAN)