August 19, 2014 -The United Nation has called for an end to total destruction and bloodshed in Gaza even as 10,000 Palestinians have so far been injured in the Israeli-Palestine fracas.
So far over 2000 Palestinians have been killed out of which 459 were children and 239 women. Israel on the other hand has lost 64 soldiers, two civilians and a foreigner bringing the total death toll to 67 on the side of Israel, while at least 16,000 housing units have been destroyed in Gaza, the UN has said.
Addressing the UN Security Council, UN Special Coordinator for the peace process, Robert Serry said it was critical to end the conflict by reversing the loss of hope in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
According to him, “the slide towards a state of permanent conflict and hopelessness must be halted at once.
“The increasingly restive situation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, together with the Gaza crisis, should be a bleak warning to all concerned of what the future will bring if we do not reverse the current negative trend towards a one-State reality, which is now on the parties’ doorstep,” Serry said, describing the death toll as appalling.
According to him, Gaza urgently needs houses, hospitals and schools — not rockets, tunnels and conflict,” he said, stressing the importance of monitoring arrangements in support of a durable ceasefire.
He pointed out that breaches of inviolability of United Nations premises during the escalation were intolerable and showed that parties to the conflict have no respect for international law.
He explained that there are three direct hits on schools operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), damage to many others and dozens of related deaths, including those of 11 UNRWA staff. He also noted that on three occasions, rockets were found in UNRWA schools and called for a thorough investigation into all those incidents.
So afar about 16,800 housing units in Gaza had been destroyed or severely damaged, he said adding that the reconstruction needs were three times those that resulted from the 2009 escalation.
He noted that since 23 July, demonstrations against Israeli operations in Gaza had taken place almost daily, resulting in clashes with Israeli security forces.
He said that a total of 17 Palestinians were killed, including two children, with about 1,400 injured. “Settler attacks resulted in one Palestinian killed and 19 injured, while 12 settlers were injured by Palestinians and another Israeli died when a Palestinian attacked street traffic with an excavator vehicle”, he said.
