“Palestinians in Gaza are living in utter, deepening horror,” says UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Trk

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Trk has Wednesday said that "Palestinians in Gaza are living in utter, deepening horror," as they "continue to be relentlessly bombarded by Israel and collectively punished." Speaking at a press conference ahead of Human Rights Day, Trk said that "humanitarian aid is again virtually cut off, as fears of widespread disease and hunger spread." "Civilians in Gaza continue to be relentlessly bombarded by Israel and collectively punished - suffering death, siege, destruction and deprivation of the most essential human needs such as food, water, lifesaving medical supplies and other essentials on a massive scale. Palestinians in Gaza are living in utter, deepening horror," he said. "Military operations, including bombardment, by Israeli Forces continue in north, middle and south Gaza, affecting people who have already been displaced multiple times - forced to flee - in search of safety. But no place is safe." "As we speak, some 1.9 million out of the 2.2 million Pale stinians have been displaced and are being pushed into ever-diminishing and extremely overcrowded places in southern Gaza, in unsanitary and unhealthy conditions," he added. "And humanitarian aid is again virtually cut off, as fears of widespread disease and hunger spread. The catastrophic situation we see unfolding in the Gaza Strip was entirely foreseeable and preventable. My humanitarian colleagues have described the situation as apocalyptic," Trk noted. "The international community needs to insist with one voice on a ceasefire, immediately, on human rights and humanitarian grounds," he stressed. "The human rights crisis in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is also extremely alarming, including an increase in unnecessary or disproportionate, even militarised, use of force by Israeli forces resulting in a rise in unlawful killings, much more aggressive and frequent settler violence leading to the forced displacement of Palestinian communities, record increases in arbitrary arrests and det ention, an alarming spike in deaths in custody and allegations of ill-treatment of Palestinians in detention, including sexual violence. The Israeli authorities must take immediate steps to end widespread impunity for such violations," he concluded. Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA