Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has called for an international investigation into what he described as “war crimes” committed by Israel forces during their ongoing military campaign in Gaza. Safadi’s remarks coincided with reports of Israel’s intensified air and ground attacks, which killed 31 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
During a press conference with the head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), Safadi said those responsible for documented crimes should be brought to justice.
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), delivered an assessment of the situation, stating that “almost nothing” in terms of aid is reaching the strip. Speaking at the news conference, Lazzarini attributed this situation to the closure of the Rafah and Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossings by Israel.
Lazzarini lamented that the UN has been “regularly and blatantly disregarded in Gaza” by Israel, highlighting the toll on UN staff. He revealed that more than 200 humanitarian workers have been killed, including 189 from UNRWA, and over 160 UN premises have been damaged or fully destroyed. Lazzarini also noted the mistreatment of UN staff during Israel’s war on Gaza, stating that they have been rounded up, arrested, mistreated, tortured, and forced into confessions.
The United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, Martin Griffiths, warned of an impending “apocalyptic” outcome in Gaza as a result of Israel’s ongoing aid stranglehold gripping the region.
The key Rafah and Karem Abu Salem crossings remain blocked by Israeli forces, preventing essential supplies from reaching the strip. Since the launch of Israel’s offensive on 6 May, at least 900,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced.
In a statement to Agence France-Presse (AFP) during meetings with Qatari officials in Doha, Griffiths stated: “If fuel runs out, aid doesn’t get to the people where they need it, that famine… will be present.”
The Jabalia camp, one of the most densely populated areas in Gaza, has been a key target of the Israeli attacks, contributing to the mounting civilian casualties and widespread destruction in the area.
Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, the number of Palestinians detained by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem has surged to 8,680, according to a joint statement released last week by the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society.
As of Wednesday, estimates from the Ramallah-based Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association indicate that the total number of political detainees in Israeli custody has risen to 9,300, with 3,424 of these being administrative detainees held without charge or trial.
These figures do not account for the thousands of Palestinians, including both adults and children, who have been detained, tortured, and interrogated by the Israeli army in makeshift prisons across Gaza. These detentions occurred without any legal or civilian oversight.
An Israeli airstrike targeted a house the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing 31 civilians, including women and children. Mahmud Bassal, spokesperson for the Civil Defence agency, confirmed the recovery of 31 bodies and 20 wounded from the rubble of the destroyed house. Rescue workers continue to search for missing individuals in the debris.
Since the start of its war on Gaza on 7 October, Israel, backed and armed by the US, UK, Germany and other western governments, has killed at least 35,456 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and wounded 79,366 others. Israeli forces have also destroyed nearly 75 percent of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, including homes, hospitals, schools, and places of worship, while also blocking the entry of essential aid into the occupied enclave, pushing the population of 2.5 million people to starvation.