GENEVA: The UN rights chief is gravely concerned over the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon and wants a "permanent ceasefire" there and in war-ravaged Gaza, his spokesman said on Tuesday. "The high commissioner reiterates his call for an immediate ceasefire to put an end to the killings and the destruction," Jeremy Laurence, a spokesman for Volker Turk, told reporters in Geneva. His comment came as Israel's security cabinet was due to meet to vote on a proposed ceasefire with Hezbollah in its war in Lebanon, with the White House voicing optimism that a deal was close. The United States, European Union and United Nations have pushed in recent days for a truce in the long-running hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which escalated into full-scale war in late September.
The war in Lebanon followed nearly a year of limited cross-border exchanges of fire with Hezbollah. The Lebanese group said it was acting in support of the Palestinians after October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Laurence said Turk was "gravely concerned by the escalation in Lebanon". He pointed to at least 97 people reportedly killed in Israeli air strikes between November 22 and 24 alone, including eight children and 19 women. Also last week, seven paramedics were reportedly killed in three separate Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, he said, adding to the 226 healthcare workers reportedly killed in Lebanon between October 7 last year and November 18. Laurence warned: "Israeli military action in Lebanon has caused wide-scale loss of civilian life, including the killing of the entire families, widespread displacement and the destruction of civilian infrastructure, raising serious concerns about respect for the principles of proportionality, distinction and necessity."
Meanwhile, Gaza's civil defence agency said on Tuesday its vehicles had stopped working in the Palestinian territory's north due to a lack of fuel, warning it could not respond to emergencies. "All our fire, rescue and ambulance vehicles have stopped working in Gaza due to the Israeli occupation's continued refusal to provide the necessary diesel to operate them," the rescue agency said in a statement. "Our crews will not be able to respond to citizens' calls until the Israeli occupation allows humanitarian organisations to bring in the necessary quantities of diesel," it added.
Gaza City and the areas north of it have been particularly hard hit by shortages caused by the war that began over a year ago, leaving the population short on food and forcing health facilities to stop or limit work for lack of fuel for generators.
Gaza's health ministry had said that hospitals had only two days' worth of fuel left before they would have to restrict services, after the UN warned aid delivery to the war-devastated territory was being crippled. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed 44,249 people in Gaza, according to figures from the territory's health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
