UN calls upon global powers for urgent action to end Gaza catastrophe

U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk on Tuesday urged governments around the world to respond urgently to the deepening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, reports Daily Sabah.

"Everyone in government needs to wake up to what is happening in Gaza. All those with influence must exert maximum pressure on Israel and Hamas, to put an end to this unbearable suffering," Türk said at the opening of the U.N. Human Rights Council session in Geneva on Monday. He said that a lasting peace is only possible through a two-state solution, with Gaza forming part of a future Palestinian state.

Türk delivered sharp criticism of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, saying its "means and methods of warfare are inflicting horrifying, unconscionable suffering on Palestinians."

He condemned what he described as "disturbing, dehumanizing rhetoric" by Israeli officials and criticized the ongoing blockade of U.N. humanitarian aid deliveries, which has been in place since March.

He also called for an investigation into deaths linked to food distribution efforts coordinated through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial initiative backed by Israel and the U.S.

Civilians are often forced to walk miles through active conflict zones to reach the limited number of GHF aid centres. Dozens have been killed in the process.

Medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres - MSF) on Monday urged the EU to pressure Israel to grant unrestricted humanitarian access to Gaza - and stop what it described as the "slaughter" of Palestinians, in an open letter to the top officials of the bloc and its 27 member-states.

The open letter shared at a Brussels news conference called for an immediate end to the withholding of aid on security grounds, which MSF said amounted to "collective punishment - a war crime."

The group further called for steps to boost medical evacuations, saying around 13,000 people, including more than 4,500 children, were in urgent need.

"Our message to the leaders is simple. We urge you to use all political, economic, and diplomatic tools to exert real pressure on Israel to stop the carnage in Gaza and to allow unhindered humanitarian aid," MSF International's secretary general, Christopher Lockyear told reporters.