UN official warns Gaza situation ‘steadily worsening’ amid ‘fragile’ ceasefire

A senior UN official warned on Tuesday that the situation in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank is “steadily worsening” as regional tensions draw global attention elsewhere.

“The tensions and hostilities that have upended the Middle East over the past weeks have shifted attention from the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” Khaled Khiari, UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, told the Security Council, adding that “away from the spotlight, the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is steadily worsening.”

Noting that nearly the entire population of Gaza had been uprooted, Khiari explained that “some 1.8 million people, nearly the entire population of Gaza, are displaced and living in IDP (internally displaced people) camps, and are dependent on aid amid ongoing hostilities, devastated infrastructure and rising public health risks.”