The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on OPT Israel humanitarian aid and workers
“Over 33,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, are dead, 75,000 or more are injured, and at least 7,000 are presumed dead under the rubble. Over 1,200 are dead in Israel and hundreds injured. More than 100 hostages remain in captivity. Huge swathes of Gaza have been bombed into oblivion. The Gaza Strip has changed forever,” spokesperson Jeremy Laurence told the biweekly press briefing in Geneva.
“The violations of international law committed since 7 October in Israel and Gaza, including gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict, as well as the destruction and suffering of civilians in Gaza over the last six months, are unprecedented. And the risk of further atrocity crimes is high,” said Laurence.
“The world has collectively spoken that this carnage and wanton destruction must end immediately. The hostages must be released unconditionally. Humanitarian aid and other goods necessary for the survival of the civilian population must be allowed to flood into Gaza and be safely distributed to every part of the Strip,” Laurence stressed.
The spokesperson highlighted the worldwide shock following Israel’s killing of of the World Central Kitchen workers, noting that, so far, nearly 200 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza, including close to 180 UN staff.
“The Israeli airstrikes that killed World Central Kitchen personnel underline the horrific conditions under which humanitarian workers are operating in Gaza. Israel has also killed law enforcement officials and others involved in securing humanitarian aid delivery, directly contributing to the breakdown of civil order and putting humanitarian workers and those in need of aid in further danger,” Laurence said.
International law requires all parties to respect and protect humanitarian relief personnel and ensure their safety, security, and freedom of movement. Israel, as the occupying power, has the additional obligation to ensure, to the fullest extent possible, that the basic needs of the population of Gaza are met.
“Attacking people or objects involved in humanitarian assistance may amount to a war crime. As the High Commissioner has repeatedly stated, impunity must end. Independent, thorough and effective investigations into all alleged violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed on 7 October and subsequently need to be conducted promptly,” said Laurence.
In Geneva:
Liz Throssell + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org
Jeremy Laurence - + 41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org
Tag and share - Twitter: @UNHumanRights and Facebook: unitednationshumanrights
STORY: UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on OPT Israel humanitarian aid and workers
TRT: 03:15
SOURCE: UNTV / OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 5 APRIL 2022 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
1. Exterior shot : Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot : Briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Over 33,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, are dead, 75,000 or more are injured, and at least 7,000 are presumed dead under the rubble. Over 1,200 are dead in Israel and hundreds injured. More than 100 hostages remain in captivity. Huge swathes of Gaza have been bombed into oblivion. The Gaza Strip has changed forever.”
4. Cut Away: Briefing room.
5. SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The violations of international law committed since 7 October in Israel and Gaza, including gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict, as well as the destruction and suffering of civilians in Gaza over the last six months, are unprecedented. And the risk of further atrocity crimes is high.”
6. Cut Away: Briefing room.
7. SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The world has collectively spoken that this carnage and wanton destruction must end immediately. The hostages must be released unconditionally. Humanitarian aid and other goods necessary for the survival of the civilian population must be allowed to flood into Gaza and be safely distributed to every part of the Strip.”
8. Cut Away: Briefing room.
9. SOUNDBITE (English)— Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The Israeli airstrikes that killed World Central Kitchen personnel underline the horrific conditions under which humanitarian workers are operating in Gaza. Israel has also killed law enforcement officials and others involved in securing humanitarian aid delivery, directly contributing to the breakdown of civil order and putting humanitarian workers and those in need of aid in further danger.”
10. Cut Away: Briefing room.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN rights chief alarmed by detentions and violence post-Venezuela elections.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNITED NATIONS
Conflict in Myanmar between the military junta and opposition forces is increasingly brutal, with both sides likely responsible for international crimes including summary executions, top independent rights investigators said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , IOM
Sudan’s deepening humanitarian crisis caused by nearly 16 months of war has left countless women and girls subject to sexual violence and rape and tens of thousands of children at risk of death from hunger, UN aid teams said on Tuesday.
1
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Tuesday strongly condemned the storming of his Office’s representation in Sana’a by the Ansar Allah de facto authorities and renewed his call for the immediate and unconditional release of all UN staff detained in Yemen.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNICEF
UN rights chief condemns Israeli minister for justifying war crime starvation of civilians in Gaza. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk is “shocked and appalled”, a spokesman said, at Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich’s statement earlier this week in which he deplored aid for civilians in the Gaza Strip and suggested that the deliberate starvation of Palestinian civilians in Gaza could be “justified and moral” as long as Israeli hostages are held by Hamas.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
COVID-19 makes a worrying comeback, WHO warns amid summertime surge COVID-19 infections are surging globally, including at the Paris Olympics, and are unlikely to decline anytime soon, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. The UN health agency is also warning that more severe variants of the coronavirus may soon be on the horizon.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
In a bid to prevent a polio epidemic in Gaza, UN humanitarians on Tuesday repeated continuing international calls for a ceasefire, to allow a mass vaccination campaign to get under way.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
New forced displacements have continued in Gaza as regional tensions escalate after a deadly strike in the Syrian Golan Heights where 12 youngsters were killed over the weekend, UN humanitarians have said.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
News of another deadly shipwreck tragedy off the coast of Mauritania is a clear indication of the desperation people on the move continue to face as they attempt to escape strife, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Concerns continue to grow over the impact of a possible polio outbreak in Gaza, amid disastrous sanitary conditions and a lack of access to health care, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , OHCHR , UNICEF
Poliovirus detected in Gaza sewage puts thousands at risk amid increasing ‘anarchy’. In Gaza, tests conducted by the Global Polio Laboratory Network have confirmed the presence of poliovirus in six sewage samples collected on 23 June from Khan Younis and Deir al Balah.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Renewed wave of deadly Israeli strikes on Gaza must stop – UN Human Rights Office