In a statement, the rights chief at the United Nations said, “This latest barrage of bombs … and the denial of humanitarian assistance underline that there appears to be a push for a permanent demographic shift in Gaza that is in defiance of international law and is tantamount to ethnic cleansing.
The United Nations high commissioner for human rights warned that a clear intensification in attacks this week raised fears the wider Israeli offensive had begun.
Also read: Israeli strikes kill more than 250 in Gaza; Trump says ‘people are starving’
“We must stop the clock on this madness,” he said, urging all parties, including third states with direct influence, to stop the assault.
Likewise, United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher described a so-called humanitarian aid distribution plan for Gaza, an proposed by Israel and backed by the US, as a "fig leaf for further violence and displacement" of Palestinians in the war-torn enclave.
"It is cynical sideshow. A deliberate distraction," Fletcher told the U.N. Security Council.
No humanitarian aid has been delivered to Gaza since March 2, and a global hunger monitor has warned that half a million people face starvation, a quarter of the enclave s population.
Israel proposed last week that private companies would take over handing out aid in Gaza s south once an expanded Israeli offensive starts in its war there, which began in October 2023 after militant group Hamas attacked Israel. Aid deliveries have been handled by international aid groups and U.N. organizations.
"We can save hundreds of thousands of survivors. We have rigorous mechanisms to ensure our aid gets to civilians and not to Hamas, but Israel denies us access, placing the objective of depopulating Gaza before the lives of civilians," said Fletcher.
Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the militant group denies, and is blocking deliveries until Hamas releases all remaining hostages.
Amid the stalemate, the United States last week backed a mechanism for Gaza aid deliveries to be handled by private companies, an approach that appeared to resemble Israel s proposal, but gave few initial details about the plan.
"We will not allow the old, broken system to remain in place," Israel s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon told the council. "We appreciate the efforts to build a new mechanism, one grounded in accountability."
