The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “is appalled over the escalating violence in Gaza” in the wake of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza’s largest refugee camp on Tuesday and Wednesday, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
The airstrike on Tuesday killed at least 47 people and wounded scores more. The death toll for the attack on Wednesday is not yet available, but the Palestinian Ministry of Health said its toll was in the “dozens.”
Guterres is particularly concerned about “the killing of Palestinians, including women and children in Israeli airstrikes in residential areas of the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp.”
Meanwhile, the UN Human Rights Office posted on X that the bombing may have been “disproportionate” and “could amount to war crimes.”
Israel claimed it was targeting Hamas commander Ibrahim Biari, and also claimed the attack killed “many terrorists.” Hamas has denied that any members of its leadership was at the camp at the time of the attack. Hamas also claimed seven hostages taken during its surprise October 7 attack were killed in the Israeli bombing, including three foreign passport holders.
“This is just the latest atrocity to befall the people of Gaza where the fighting has entered an even more terrifying phase, with increasingly dreadful humanitarian consequences," Martin Griffiths, the UN humanitarian chief, said in a statement shortly after visiting Gaza.
At least 70 UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) workers have been killed since the conflict began, likely in Israeli airstrikes. On Wednesday, Dujarric announced the head of the UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, managed to get into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. Lazzarini is the highest-ranking UN official to visit the region since the Israeli bombing campaign began. Dujarric said Lazzarini told him that fuel and humanitarian policy is needed in Gaza “more than ever.”
On Wednesday, the director of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, the only hospital in Gaza still serving cancer patients, was forced to shut down after it ran out of fuel. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 16 of the region’s 35 hospitals are no longer functioning. Israel has blockaded Gaza, preventing fuel from entering the region.