United Nations, India is "deeply troubled" by the conflict in Gaza that has raged on for nearly five months now, the country's envoy to the UN has said, asserting that the loss of civilian lives and the resulting humanitarian crisis is "clearly unacceptable". India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador, <keyword id="19898338" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ruchira-kamboj" source="keywords">Ruchira Kamboj</keyword>, said this while addressing a UN General Assembly meeting on the 'Use of Veto' on Monday. "The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has led to large scale loss of civilian lives, especially women and children....this has also resulted in an alarming humanitarian crisis. This is clearly unacceptable," Kamboj told the UNGA. She said that India has been "deeply troubled by the conflict in Gaza that has been raging for nearly five months now." "The humanitarian crisis has deepened, and the region and beyond have seen rising instability," India's top diplomat to the UN said. The General Assembly held the plenary debate on the 'Use of the veto' after the US cast a veto in the UN Security Council last month, leading to the failure of the Council to adopt a resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza war. Kamboj told the UNGA that India's position on the conflict has been clear, and New Delhi has strongly condemned the deaths of civilians in the conflict. "It is critical to prevent further escalation of violence and hostilities. It is imperative to avoid the loss of civilian lives in any conflict situation," she said. Kamboj underlined that humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza must be scaled up immediately to avert a further deterioration in the situation. She urged all parties to come together in this endeavour and welcomed the efforts of the UN and the international community. "India has provided humanitarian aid to the people of Palestine and will continue to do so," she said. Kamboj said India is cognizant of the fact that the immediate trigger of the conflict was the terror attacks in Israel on October 7, which were "shocking and deserve our unequivocal condemnation. "India has a longstanding and uncompromising position against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. There can be no justifications for terrorism and hostage-taking. We demand the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages," she said. India has repeatedly emphasised that only a two-state solution, achieved through direct and meaningful negotiations between both sides on final status issues, will deliver an enduring peace. "India is committed to supporting a two-state solution where the Palestinian people are able to live freely in an independent country within secure borders, with due regard to the security needs of Israel," Kamboj said. To arrive at a lasting solution, India urged for immediate de-escalation, eschewing violence, the release of all hostages, avoiding provocative and escalatory actions, and working towards creating conditions for an early resumption of direct peace negotiations. Separately, addressing a special meeting of the General Assembly on the <keyword id="20359702" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="united-nations-relief-and-works-agency" source="keywords">United Nations Relief and Works Agency</keyword> for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (<keyword id="19970301" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="unrwa" source="keywords">UNRWA</keyword>), Kamboj said that recent allegations that some employees of the agency may have been involved in the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel are a "matter of serious concern. Noting the constitution of an independent review group led by the former Foreign Minister of France Catherine Colonna to go into the working of the UNRWA, Kamboj said India looks forward to getting these reports. "We have noted that the Secretary-General has announced a time-bound investigation into all such allegations," Kamboj said. UN Secretary-General <keyword id="19962050" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="antonio-guterres" source="keywords">Antonio Guterres</keyword> was "horrified" by the "extremely serious allegations" which implicate several UNRWA staff members in the terror attacks of October 7 in Israel. In consultation with UNRWA Commissioner-General <keyword id="20355646" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="philippe-lazzarini" source="keywords">Philippe Lazzarini</keyword>, the Secretary-General appointed an independent Review Group to assess whether the agency was doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality and to respond to allegations of serious breaches when they are made. The UN has said it is taking swift action following the allegations, and an investigation by the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) was immediately activated. Kamboj said that the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has led to large-scale loss of civilian lives, especially women and children, and has resulted in an alarming humanitarian crisis. She said that India has provided humanitarian aid to the people of Palestine and will continue to do so. "We are also positively considering specific requests from the UNRWA for assistance in kind. We urge utmost diligence in the utilisation of this assistance," she said. As a mark of solidarity with the Palestinian refugees, Kamboj said India enhanced its annual contribution to the agency from USD 1.25 million to USD 5 million in 2018. Since then, India has been making this contribution to the agency annually, supporting the agency's core programmes and services, including education, healthcare, relief, and social services provided to Palestinian refugees.

India deeply troubled by conflict in Gaza: Ambassador Kamboj

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The IDF claimed to have found a Hamas nerve center directly underneath the UNRWA HQ in Gaza.</li><li>The UNRWA's chief said the agency was unaware of what was happening beneath its compound.</li></ul>Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations has called on the chief of a UN agency to resign after it claimed ignorance about what Israel says was a Hamas nerve center directly beneath its Gaza headquarters.Over the weekend, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tunnel-complex-computer-servers-discovered-un-aid-hq-gaza-idf-2024-2?mrfhud=true&amp;r=US&amp;IR=T">Israel Defense Forces said it had discovered "electrical infrastructure" and rows of computer services underneath the headquarters</a> of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israels-destruction-of-gaza-will-fuel-hamas-conflict-uk-politician-2023-12">Gaza City.</a>Although journalists were invited to visit the site, which Israeli military officials described as a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/hamas-military-compound-found-beneath-u-n-agency-headquarters-in-gaza-7e29c758?mod=sports_whatsnews_pos2">"Hamas intelligence hub,"</a> the IDF did not provide definitive proof that Hamas militants had carried out operations in the tunnel, per <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-unwra-gaza-tunnels-31f6ca23365e349bcde1332d5028e431">The Associated Press</a>.Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the UNRWA, <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/UNLazzarini/status/1756377920254218556?s=20">said in an X post</a> on Saturday that the agency "did not know what is under its headquarters in Gaza."He mentioned that the UNRWA became aware of reports of a tunnel under the headquarters through the media, stating that the agency would not have been aware of activities at the compound since its staff had vacated it on October 12.Lazzarini also mentioned in the post that the UNRWA last inspected the premises in September 2023.However, he added that the UNRWA "does not have the military and security expertise nor the capacity to undertake military inspections of what is or might be under its premises."Lazzarini said the discovery warrants an independent inquiry but stated that this would not be possible because "Gaza is an active war zone."However, Gilad Erdan, Israel's UN Ambassador, responded with a <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/giladerdan1/status/1756437121613631557?s=20">fiery X post</a>, calling for Lazzarini's resignation.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">.<a href="https://twitter.com/UNLazzarini?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UNLazzarini</a> it’s not that you didn’t know, it’s that you didn’t WANT to know. We exposed terror tunnels under UNRWA schools and supplied evidence that Hamas’ exploits UNRWA. We implored you to carry out a comprehensive search of all UNRWA facilities in Gaza. But not only did… <a href="https://t.co/bJsD66OwoO">https://t.co/bJsD66OwoO</a>— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) <a href="https://twitter.com/giladerdan1/status/1756437121613631557?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2024</a></blockquote> "It's not that you didn't know, it's that you didn't WANT to know," he said.Erdan claimed that Israel had provided "evidence that Hamas' exploits UNRWA," and that Israel had urged the agency to carry out a comprehensive search of all facilities in Gaza."But not only did you refuse, you chose to stick your head in the sand," he said.Later in the post, Erdan wrote: "Every day we find more proof that in Gaza the UN=Hamas and vice versa."This appears to reference allegations that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/un-palestinian-refugee-agency-investigates-staff-suspected-role-israel-attacks-2024-01-26/">UNRWA employees were involved in helping Hamas</a> stage the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pictures-of-hamas-oct-7-terror-attacks-israeli-homes-photos-2023-11">October 7 terror attacks</a> on Israel.At the time, Lazzarini said the organization had <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/09/head-of-unwra-says-he-followed-reverse-due-process-in-sacking-accused-gaza-staff">dismissed the employees</a> concerned and launched an investigation.Several nations, including the US, UK, and Canada, consequently <a target="_blank" href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/jan/27/uk-to-pause-funding-for-key-un-aid-agency-for-palestinian-refugees">paused funding for the agency</a>.The UNRWA in Gaza did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A UN agency said it had no idea a Hamas nerve center was directly below its Gaza HQ

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A United Nations relief group in the Gaza Strip said one of its refugee school shelters was bombed.</li><li>The UNRWA said it had given all parties coordinates to the shelter.</li></ul>At least six people were killed after a United Nations refugee school was bombed during Israeli airstrikes, said the relief agency running the shelter."This is outrageous, and it again shows a flagrant disregard for the lives of civilians. No place is safe in Gaza anymore, not even UNRWA facilities," said Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Palestine, in a <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/gaza-unrwa-school-sheltering-displaced-families-hit">statement.</a>Lazzarini said the school is situated in the al-Maghazi refugee camp — which is in the middle of the Gaza Strip — and was hit despite the UNRWA providing coordinates of its facilities to all "relevant parties" every day since October 7."The school was hit during Israeli forces airstrikes and bombardment on the Gaza Strip," Lazzarini said.Dozens of people, including UNRWA staff, were injured, and the school suffered "severe structural damage," he added."The numbers are likely to be higher," said the commissioner-general, who issued the statement from Amman, Jordan.The school is used as a shelter for around 4,000 people, Lazzarini said."They had and still have nowhere else to go," he said.<div type="image" title="Displaced Palestinian citizens gather at the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) school in Khan Yunis, after evacuating their homes that were damaged by Israeli airstrikes on October 15, 2023 in Khan Yunis, Gaza." height="3648" width="5472" msid="104519133" hostid="261" sizebytes="778162"></div>Representatives for the Israel Defense Forces and the UNRWA did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.The World Health Organization has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hamas-israel-palestine-war-bombing-hospital-un-airstrikes-gaza-2023-10">documented 48 attacks on health care</a> in the Gaza Strip since October 7, when Israel began bombarding the region in response to a terrorist attack by Hamas.At least 24 hospitals were damaged during the bombings, and three facilities in northern Gaza had to be evacuated, <a href="https://ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-10">per the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.</a>Meanwhile, at least <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hamas-israel-palestine-war-bombing-hospital-un-airstrikes-gaza-2023-10">500 people are feared dead</a> after an explosion rocked a hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday. Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces have blamed each other for the incident, with the Palestinian Health Ministry saying an Israeli airstrike hit the hospital. Israel said the cause was a misfired Hamas rocket.The destruction at the hospital has ignited global outrage, with <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/james-cleverly-gaza-hospital-blast-israel-b2431510.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">various parties</a> in the international community saying they will <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-expresses-outrage-over-gaza-hospital-attack-directs-team-investigate-2023-10-17/">investigate the blast.</a>At least 2,670 Palestinians have been killed by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-airstrike-kills-women-children-fleeing-evacuation-route-northern-gaza-2023-10">Israeli airstrikes</a> since October 7, <a href="https://www.moh.gov.ps/portal/gaza-2670-palestinians-killed-since-the-start-of-escalation-on-the-morning-of-7-october-and-9600-citizens-were-injured/">per the Palestinian Health Ministry</a>.The IDF has pummeled the 140-square-mile region with bombs after Hamas militants carried out a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-hamas-chose-attack-israel-now-after-decades-conflict-gaza-2023-10">mass terrorist attack along the Gaza border</a>, which Israeli authorities said killed some 1,300 people.Hamas seized around <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/families-of-israeli-hostages-are-stuck-in-ambiguous-loss-2023-10">250 hostages</a>, and has continued firing rockets into Israel. The IDF is expected to launch a ground invasion of Gaza so it can retrieve those kidnapped, but has not said when it plans to attack.

A UN group said its school shelter was bombed during Israeli airstrikes, even after it gave everyone the facility's coordinates

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The UN aid agency that supports Palestinians in Gaza says 72 of its aid workers have been killed.</li><li>The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNWRA, employs 13,000 people in Gaza.</li></ul>The bombardment of the Gaza Strip has exacted a deadly toll on aid workers there, killing at least 72 employees of the United Nations relief agency since the war began on October 7."To date, 72 UNRWA colleagues have been killed in Gaza since the war began, often with their families," Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said in a statement on Thursday.Since the war began, a number of UNWRA facilities — home to some 700,000 people seeking refuge — have also been "directly hit," he added, noting that at least four shelters had been damaged in the previous 24 hours.UNWRA employs about 13,000 people in the Gaza Strip, where it provides food, shelter, and education to the Palestinian territory's large refugee population. More than half of Gaza's population of over 2 million people is dependent on the agency's assistance for daily survival.Although the agency does not attribute blame for the deaths, Israel has dropped more than 10,000 bombs on Gaza, killing more than 9,000 people, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. The bombing campaign began after Hamas launched a brutal attack in southern Israel that killed more than 1,400 people, the majority of them civilians.This week, the Israel Defense Forces <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-airstrike-gaza-refugee-camp-hamas-civilians-2023-10">struck the Jabiliya refugee camp</a> in northern Gaza, claiming it took out a senior Hamas commander and that the site was located above a network of tunnels carved out by the militant group. The attack also killed civilians, including one UNWRA employee."Overnight, we lost Mai, a bright software developer in her mid-20s with physical disabilities," Lazzarini said. "She was displaced from her home and killed in the Jabalia Refugee Camp with members of her family. "During the last major Israeli military campaign in Gaza, in 2014, UNWRA said that 11 of its civilian aid workers were killed.The latest Israel-Hamas war in Gaza already appears to be the deadliest conflict ever for UNWRA staff.In an alert sent out late last month, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aidworkersecurity.org/incidents/report/country">Aid Worker Security Database</a>, a project funded by the US government, said that it had recorded more killings of UN aid workers in Gaza in the previous two weeks than it had — in total — since 2002, the first year for which there is data. According to the database, at least 94 UNWRA staff have been killed over the last two decades, meaning that more than 70% of the total recorded are people who died in the last few weeks.For comparison, a total of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.voanews.com/a/violence-against-aid-workers-shows-no-respite-un-says-/7230279.html">116 aid workers</a> across all conflicts and organizations were killed in all of 2022.Juliette Touma, UNWRA's director of communications, confirmed to Insider that this war has been the worst ever for the agency's staff. Not only is it "the highest number of UN aid workers killed in any conflict globally," she said, but it has all happened "in such a short span of time."

More UN aid workers have been killed in Gaza in the last few weeks than in all previous wars between Israel and Hamas combined

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Gazan parents are writing their children's names on their bodies so they can be identified, per CNN.</li><li>A Gazan doctor told the outlet the only way dead children can be identified is through that writing.</li></ul>Gazan parents are so worried about their children dying that they are writing their names with black ink on their bodies so that doctors can identify them in hospitals, <a target="_blank" href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/23/middleeast/gaza-hospitals-doctors-disaster-intl-hnk/index.html">according to CNN</a>."We received some cases where the parents wrote the names of their children on the legs and abdomen," Dr Abdul Rahman Al Masri, the head of the emergency department at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, told the outlet.Hamas' terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, killed more than 1,300 people, including children. Israel has since <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/netanyahu-deleted-children-of-darkness-post-gaza-hospital-attack-2023-10?r=US&amp;IR=T">pummeled the Gaza Strip with airstrikes</a>, killing more than 4,300 Palestinians, including more than 1,700 children, according to the Gazan Health Ministry, <a target="_blank" href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-west-bank-gaza-militants-25b93d7eda4f2972360fe384d381bbff">the Associated Press reported</a>.Gazan parents worry that "anything could happen" to their children, and no one will be able to identify them, Al Masri told CNN.He added: "This means that they feel they are targeted at any moment and can be injured or martyred."<a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/children-rights-gaza-palestine-israel-human-rights-united-nations-2023-10">Children account for almost half of the region's population</a>, and they are often found in hospitals among the victims, a hospital supervisor told CNN.The supervisor of the room at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, who refused to be named, told the outlet that parents writing their children's names on body parts is a "new phenomenon.""Many of the children are missing; many get here with their skulls broken... and it's impossible to identify them; only through that writing do they get identified," he added.As <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-gallant-announces-complete-siege-gaza-no-electricity-food-fuel-2023-10?r=US&amp;IR=T">Israel's "complete siege"</a> continues, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gazas-hospitals-verge-collapse-could-turn-into-morgues-officials-say-2023-10?r=US&amp;IR=T">Gaza's health system is on the brink of collapse</a>, with hospitals running out of medicine, water, and electricity required to provide treatment, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/MOHGaza1994/posts/pfbid02U169V3gBYei1wVKiXDxwh7iYP6Jshfs6MhtkaE1gkvLGXese6hnmcr4hU6WU1VWWl">Palestinian health officials</a> and the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.icrc.org/en/document/israel-and-occupied-territories-hospitals-risk-turning-morgues-without-electricity-hostages-must-be-released">International Committee of the Red Cross</a> warned earlier this month.Dr Iyad Issa Abu Zaher, the hospital's director general, said that after Israel's bomb attacks nearby Saturday night into Sunday, the hospital is at full capacity and can't take in any new patients."The injured are at the door of operation theater rooms and on top of each other, each waiting their turn for an operation," he told CNN.The first two aid convoys reached Palestinians in the Gaza Strip from Egypt through the Rafah crossing over the weekend, the <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/UNReliefChief">UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs said in a post on X on Sunday</a>."But they need more, much more," Martin Griffiths added.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/gaza-strip-fuel-running-out-without-fuel-humanitarian-response-will">In a statement on Sunday</a>, the United Nations relief group in the Gaza Strip, UNRWA, said the lack of fuel in the first aid convoy means the region will run out of water, electricity, and functioning hospitals in the next three to four days."No fuel will further strangle the children, women, and people of Gaza," said Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Palestine.

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India deeply troubled by conflict in Gaza: Ambassador Kamboj

PTI

A UN agency said it had no idea a Hamas nerve center was directly below its Gaza HQ

Joshua Zitser

A UN group said its school shelter was bombed during Israeli airstrikes, even after it gave everyone the facility's coordinates

Matthew Loh

More UN aid workers have been killed in Gaza in the last few weeks than in all previous wars between Israel and Hamas combined

Charles R. Davis

Gazan parents are writing their children's names on their bodies so they can be identified if killed, report says

Thibault Spirlet