Gaza War '1st genocide broadcast live,' says former UNRWA official

By Anadolu staff

Former spokesman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Chris Gunness, described the situation in the Gaza Strip as “the first genocide broadcast live.”

In an interview with Anadolu, Gunness said that what the Israeli army is currently doing in Gaza is "genocide."

He pointed out that the most terrifying aspect of this situation is that “it is the first time in human history that genocide has been broadcast live on television."

The British official criticized his country's support for Israel in its current attack on Gaza, in addition to its role, alongside the US, in cutting off financial support for UNRWA.

“The United States provides $4 billion in military aid to Israel every year, while my country, the United Kingdom, provides logistical and other military support to Israel,” he said.

The official urged that the decision to cut funding for the agency be reversed, calling on Türkiye to exert economic, political, and diplomatic pressure on Israel to stop the genocide in Gaza.

Gunness warned of the escalation of famine in the Strip over time, considering that this situation is “further evidence that Israel is violating” the provisional rulings of the International Court of Justice.

Assessing the calls for an economic boycott of Israel due to its aggression against Gaza, Gunness said he was surprised by Israel’s description of these calls as “anti-Semitic.”

He said he has not heard anyone describe the boycott of the former apartheid regime in South Africa as "racist."

Gunness stressed the need for a boycott against illegal Jewish settlers, expressing his belief that this must also be implemented against everything that fuels the "Israeli genocidal army."

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack. The ensuing Israeli attack had killed at least 28,663 and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Less than 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide in the Gaza Strip, and South Africa has filed a case in the International Court of Justice. In January, an interim ruling ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that civilians in Gaza receive humanitarian assistance.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi