‘No place is safe for civilians in Gaza’: UN

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - The UN said Thursday that there is “no place is safe for civilians in Gaza” after footage showed Israeli forces shooting two apparently unarmed Palestinians and burying them with a wheel loader.

The video, aired by Al Jazeera Arabic, shows the victims walking in an open area along the Gazan coast waving a white fabric -- the international sign for surrender.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric described the "shocking" video at a news conference.

"From what we see at least, it underscores what we've been saying since the beginning that no place is safe for civilians in Gaza and obviously the circumstances around this need to be fully investigated,” he said.

It remains unknown when the shooting took place but the footage was released days after another video showed an Israeli drone tracking and attacking four Palestinians in Khan Younis. The attack killed the Palestinians in a series of strikes.

Regarding additional interim measures issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) about a case brought by South Africa against Israel on "genocide" allegations, Dujarric noted that the Court is independent.

"We do believe as a matter of principle that all member states need to abide by and implement decisions of the Court," he added.

The ICJ issued additional provisional measures Thursday that said Israel must take necessary steps to ensure the provision of essential services and refrain from actions that would constitute violations of the rights of Palestinian civilians.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Palestinian territories since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group, Hamas, which killed 1,138 people.

More than 32,500 Palestinians have since been killed and 75,000 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war, now in its 174th day, has pushed 85% of Gaza’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 at the ICJ. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.