UN Humanitarian Chief Calls Gaza War ‘Betrayal of Humanity’

Israel’s war in Gaza Strip has escalated into a “betrayal of humanity”, the United Nations’ humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said Saturday.

In a statement on the eve of the six-month anniversary of the war, Griffiths, the outgoing under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, called for a “collective determination that there should be a reckoning for this betrayal of humanity.”

“Each day, this war claims more civilian victims and every second it continues sows the seeds of a future so deeply obscured by this relentless conflict,” Griffiths said, according to AFP.

Griffiths lamented “the unconscionable prospect of further escalation in Gaza, where no one is safe and there is nowhere safe to go.”

He added that “an already fragile aid operation continues to be undermined by bombardments, insecurity and denials of access.”

“On this day, my heart goes out to the families of those killed, injured or taken hostage, and to those who face the particular suffering of not knowing the plight of their loved ones,” he said in the statement.