- Title: UN rights chief 'horrified' by Israeli airstrikes on Gaza
- Date: 18th March 2025
- Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (MARCH 18, 2025) (REUTERS) SPOKESPERSON FOR THE OFFICE OF THE U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, THAMEEN AL-KHEETAN, ARRIVING AT PODIUM NEWS BRIEFING IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESPERSON FOR THE OFFICE OF THE U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, THAMEEN AL-KHEETAN, SAYING: “We are horrified by last night's Israeli airstrikes and shel
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Gaza Hamas IFRC Israel United Nations airstrikes human rights
- Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / AMMAN, JORDAN
- City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / AMMAN, JORDAN
- Country: Palestinian Occupied Territory
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA001969018032025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The office of the U.N. human rights chief said on Tuesday (March 18) he was horrified by Israeli' strikes on Gaza which Palestinian authorities say have killed hundreds, threatening the complete collapse of a ceasefire with Hamas.
"We are horrified by last night's Israeli airstrikes and shelling in Gaza, which killed hundreds, according to the Ministry of Health in the strip. This will add tragedy onto the tragedy," said the Volker Turk’ spokesperson, Thameen Al-Kheetan during a news briefing in Geneva.
"Israel's resort to yet more military force will only heap further misery upon a Palestinian population already suffering catastrophic conditions."
Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he had told the military to take "strong action" against Hamas in response to the group's refusal to release the remaining hostages and because of their rejection of ceasefire proposals.
Ajith Sunghay, Head of the UN Human Rights office for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, called the resumption of Israeli bombardments tragic after a two-month respite in the conflict that began on Oct. 7, 2023.
"We're again seeing the scenes of mutilated bodies of children and bodies wrapped in shrouds," he told a Geneva press briefing.
He said the situation is being compounded by a renewed Israeli blockade of Gaza that began on March 2, ending a period of freer deliveries of aid into the Strip after the ceasefire.
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