By Anadolu staff
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – The Palestinian government in Gaza has accused the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) of abandoning its responsibilities towards the residents of the northern Gaza Strip.
“There is nothing that can justify UNRWA’s behavior in abandoning its responsibilities in the northern Gaza Strip and limiting its work to the south amid deliberately slowing down and delaying the entry of trucks and preventing them from entering Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip,” Salama Maarouf, the head of the government’s media office, said Tuesday during a press conference on the outcome and effects of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza
The Israeli army has repeatedly warned residents of northern Gaza against staying in their areas and called on them to flee towards southern areas through leaflets dropped by aircraft.
“Within a year and a half of the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war (on Feb. 24, 2022), the number of Ukrainian victims reached 9,000 civilians, including 500 children, and 15,000 wounded,” he said.
"In a quick comparison with the victims of the occupation's aggression against Gaza, we notice the scale of the massacres committed by the occupation, in which more than 8,525 martyrs have risen so far, including 3,542 children, 2,187 women and girls, 2,000 missing persons, and 21,543 injured in just 25 days," he added.
The enclave “incurred $3 billion in direct and indirect losses as a result of the aggression, which affected commercial and economic establishments, civilian homes, government and civil headquarters, and everything in Gaza," he said.
The Israeli army has expanded its air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip, which has been under relentless airstrikes since the Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise cross-border offensive against Israel on Oct. 7.
More than 1,538 Israelis have been killed in the conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected growing calls for a cease-fire, saying it would be a "surrender" to Hamas.
An Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip has also cut off fuel, electricity and water.
Reduced aid deliveries are unable to satisfy the needs of its more than 2 million residents.