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UN Special Rapporteur: Israel’s attack on Gaza could wipe out almost the entire population

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UN Special Rapporteur: Israel’s attack on Gaza could wipe out almost the entire population

UN Special Rapporteur: Israel’s attack on Gaza could wipe out almost the entire population
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation in Palestine, Francesca Albanese. (Photo: via QNN)

From the editors of the Palestine Chronicle

Israel ignored a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and faced international criticism for its ongoing brutal offensive on Gaza.

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese warned with “horror” that if Israel’s military attack on Gaza is not stopped, it could lead to “the extermination of almost the entire population” of the enclave “in the coming years.

Citing a recent Guardian report, Albanese said: “Prof. says the range of suspected direct and indirect deaths could be between 15 and 20 percent of the population by the end of this year.” @devisridhar (and this is consistent with the work of other academics).”

“When the dust settles, I cannot imagine how the world will carry on after allowing this to happen. Again,” said Albanese added in her post about X on Friday.

In her article, Professor Devi Sridhar referred to the Lancet medical journal’s estimate that “by mid-June 2024, a total of about 186,000 deaths could be attributed to the current conflict in Gaza, equivalent to about 7.9 percent of the country’s population.”

Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, said: “If deaths continue at this rate – around 23,000 per month – there would be a further 149,500 deaths by the end of the year, about six and a half months after the first estimate in mid-June.”

“Using this method, the total number of deaths since the beginning of the conflict could be estimated at around 335,500,” the professor explained.

“Half a million dead”

Sridhar said she made a “rough estimate” last winter based on other conflict situations and estimated the number of deaths that would occur “if the fighting continued without international intervention.”

“In December 2023, my estimate was about half a million deaths without a ceasefire,” she said.

This, Sridhar continued, is roughly in line with the Lancet’s estimates. “They used a very conservative estimate, but acknowledged that the number could easily be much higher.”

She pointed out that the figure also shows “what could have happened if the international community had not acted and taken advantage of the short windows of opportunity to provide assistance and medical care.”

“Many were saved by these various pauses in fighting and humanitarian interventions, even if they were carried out only incompletely,” the professor stressed.

UN resolution ignored

Israel ignored a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and faced international criticism for its ongoing brutal offensive on Gaza.

Tel Aviv is currently facing charges of genocide against the Palestinians before the International Court of Justice because of the devastating war the city has been waging against Gaza since October 7.

“Deeply traumatized and exhausted population” – reports from doctors on their experiences in the Gaza Strip

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 40,878 Palestinians have been killed and 94,454 injured so far. In addition, at least 11,000 people are missing and are believed to be dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the enclave.

Palestinian and international organizations say the majority of the dead and injured are women and children.

According to Israel, 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the flood relief operation in Al-Aqsa on October 7. Israeli media reported that many Israelis were killed by friendly fire that day.

The Israeli war led to an acute famine, especially in the north of the Gaza Strip, and caused the deaths of many Palestinians, especially children.

Israel’s aggression also resulted in the forced displacement of nearly two million people from the entire Gaza Strip. The vast majority of the displaced were forced to the densely populated city of Rafah in the south of the country, near the border with Egypt. It was the largest mass exodus from Palestine since the Nakba of 1948.

As the war progressed, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began to move from the south to central Gaza in search of safety.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

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