By Anadolu staff
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The Palestinians in northern Gaza “are waiting to die” as Israel escalated its offensive in the area, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
“Our staff report they cannot find food, water or medical care,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Phillippe Lazzarini said in a statement.
“The smell of death is everywhere as bodies are left lying on the roads or under the rubble. Missions to clear the bodies or provide humanitarian assistance are denied.”
The Israeli army stepped up its massive assault in northern Gaza amid a suffocating siege that has left tens of thousands of people without food and water.
More than 600 people have been killed and thousands injured since the onslaught began on Oct. 5, according to Palestinian health authorities.
“In northern Gaza, people are just waiting to die,” Lazzarini said. “They feel deserted, hopeless, and alone. They live from one hour to the next, fearing death at every second.”
The UNRWA chief appealed for an immediate truce to allow safe humanitarian passage for families wishing to leave northern Gaza.
“Throughout the war over the past year, some UNRWA staff stayed in the north and did the impossible to provide aid to internally displaced people,” Lazzarini said.
“This is the bare minimum to save the lives of civilians who have nothing to do with this conflict.”
The Israeli onslaught on northern Gaza was the latest episode in Israel’s genocidal war that has killed more than 42,700 people, mostly women and children, and injured nearly 100,300 others since last year following a Hamas attack.
The Israeli war on Gaza has displaced almost the territory’s entire population amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara