UN Appoints Aid Coordinator In Gaza As Death Toll Nears 21,000 (image-instagram/mahmoudhamda)
United Nations Antonio Guterres appointed Sigrid Kaag as Gaza’s aid coordinator and will take up the role on January 8. But the path ahead for humanitarian relief remains difficult with no break in fighting.
The United National Security Council passed a resolution on Friday and said that the Dutch diplomat and politician would “facilitate, coordinate and monitor a scaling up of aid into Gaza”. Meanwhile, the same resolution failed to call for ceasefire and thus it is unclear how Kaag will scale up the humanitarian aid to a population amidst of heavy bombardment.
As the war enters to 12th week, the death toll in Gaza neared 21,000. The offensive of Gaza has taken the life of 20,915 people so far since October 7. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that they will not lower the intensity of fighting and are “deepening operations in southern Gaza”. In the past 24 hours, as per Al Jazeera report, the air force has hit 100 targets. The Israel army chief of staff, Herzi Halevi has said that the war in Gaza will continue for “many months”.
The resistance group in Palestine, Hamas still remains resilient and capable of reconstituting military capabilities despite the military losses they have suffered in Israel aggression over the besieged enclave, two military monitors said. The militant group continues their fight in north of the Gaza strip challenging the Israel’s attempt to “clear and hold” Jabalia city. They have also engaged in “heavy fighting” against Israel forces in south strip and continued to fire mortars and rockets towards southern Israel on December 25 and 26. The fighters have clashed with the Israel forces at nine locations on December 25 and four on December 26 across the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer met with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. The pair discussed about the efforts needed to bring back the hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, White House official told Reuters. They also discussed the transitioning of war to a different phase. The meeting came after Biden’s call to Netanyahu on Saturday in which he said that he did not ask for ceasefire.
