By ESTHER ALEXANDER, Abuja –
At least 34,183 Palestinians have been killed, and 77,143 persons sustained various injuries, in the ongoing Israeli occupation aggression against the Gaza Strip, which today enters its 202nd day.
Also, 8,425 persons have been arrested, including 280 women, 540 children, 45 journalists, and 5,210 are in administrative detentions.
The Palestine Ambassador to Nigeria, Abdullah M. Abu Shawesh, disclosed this in a statement titled: “On the 202 day of the frenzy genocidal war against the Palestinian people”, and issued to newsmen on Friday in Abuja.
According to the statement, more than 450 Palestinians, including 112 children, have been killed in the occupied West Bank since 7 October – the majority by Israeli forces in the course of their operations…… others were killed by armed Israeli settlers, sometimes in the presence of Israeli security forces who reportedly stood by and did nothing to prevent these killings. UNSG Antonio Guterres.
As of April 17, on the anniversary of Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, there are more than 9,500 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons, including 80 women, over 200 minors, 21 senior detainees, 3,660 administrative detainees, and 56 journalists. The National Campaign for the Retrieval of Palestinian and Arab War Victims announced that the Israeli occupation authorities are holding the bodies of 26 prisoners who died due to Israeli medical negligence policies. It is important to note that Israel is the only state in the world that legally legislates punishment after Death to the martyrs and their families, allowing their bodies to be kept for later use as a means of pressure and bargaining with the Palestinians.
According to the United Nations “Six months into the war, 10,000 Palestinian women in Gaza have been killed, among them an estimated 6,000 mothers, leaving 19,000 children orphaned …. More than one million women and girls in Gaza have almost no food, no access to safe water, latrines, washrooms, or sanitary pads, with disease growing amidst inhumane living conditions.”
On 18 April 2024, UN experts expressed grave concern over the pattern of attacks on the educational system. “After six months of military assault, more than 5,479 students, 261 teachers and 95 university professors have been killed in Gaza, and over 7,819 students and 756 teachers have been injured – with numbers growing each day. At least 60% of educational facilities, including 13 public libraries, have been damaged or destroyed and at least 625,000 students have no access to education. Another 195 heritage sites, 227 mosques and three churches have also been damaged or destroyed, including the Central Archives of Gaza, containing 150 years of history. Israa University, the last remaining university in Gaza was demolished by the Israeli military on 17 January 2024. Without safe schools, women and girls face additional risks, including gender-based violence. More than 1 million Palestinian children in Gaza are now in need of mental health and psychosocial support and will suffer the trauma of this war throughout their lives.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini briefed the Security Council on Wednesday, April 17, on the current situation on the Gaza, stating that “the life-saving deliveries are being blocked by Israel as part of an insidious campaign to push it (UNRWA) out of the Occupied Palestinian Territory”. 178 UNRWA workers have been killed and 160 premises destroyed or damaged, killing more than 400 Gazans.
According to the Human Rights Watch “children in Gaza have been dying from starvation-related complications since the Israeli government began using starvation as a weapon of war, a war crime…concerned government should impose targeted sanctions and suspend arms transfer to press Israel to insure access of humanitarians aid and basic services in Gaza in accordance to Israel obligations under the international law.”
At the beginning of the ongoing genocidal war, we raised the alarm that numerous Israeli accusations regarding October 7 are false and fraudulent. We advocated for an independent inquiry commission, acting as a neutral third party, to investigate the events of that day. This commission should be established by the UN Human Rights Council, along with various other committees and fact-finding missions. Our expertise lies in recognizing Israeli occupation propaganda and their manipulation of facts. Israel was fabricated many narratives to justify their planned crimes, which should be investigated by a third party.
On Monday, 22 April, the UNSG Antonio Guterres accepted the recommendation of the independent review of UNRWA ability to ensure neutrality and respond to allegations of breaches that was established after the alleged Israeli accusation that at least 12 UNRWA staff were directly involved in the October 7 attack. This accusation caused a widespread and chronic financial crisis for UNRWA, as many Western countries suspended their financial support to the agency. This is further proof that Israel lying through its teeth and conducting a truly insidious campaign against the UNRWA.
Chris Sidoti, a member of a commission of inquiry into abuses committed in Israel and the Palestinian territories, accused Israel of obstructing the probe on October 7, stating that they saw “active obstruction” by Israel “in our efforts to receive evidence from Israeli witnesses and victims”. On the other hand, the Israeli diplomatic mission in Geneva called out the traditional Israeli and Zionist movement scarecrow and Sacred Cow to stifle any natural voice and to kill on the bed the independent inquiry commission by accusing the UNHRC of anti-Semitic saying that the Victims would “never get any justice or the dignified treatment they deserve from the Commission of Inquiry and its members,”, describing the commission as having “a track record of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements.”
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OCHA launched last Wednesday Aril 17, flash appeal for more than $2.8 billion in order to provide assistance to 3.1 million people in Gaza and West Bank including East Jerusalem through the end of the year. Calling for major changes to operation conditions on the ground where humanitarian organizations must have safe and sustained access to all people in need across the Gaza strip and West Bank.
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