No fewer than 70 ambassadors of the United Nations have called for international action on Gaza, urging the international community to act to end the bloodshed and suffering in Gaza.

The UN ambassadors made the call in Geneva on Friday.

More than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in just one month of the Israel-Hamas war, they said, citing local health authorities.

Children, women and the elderly account for 75 per cent of the victims, and upwards of 26,000 people were wounded.

“Furthermore, according to multiple sources, the number of Palestinian children reported killed in Gaza in just three weeks has surpassed the annual number of children killed across the world’s conflict zones since 2019,” they added in a statement.

The joint call was issued by 70 ambassadors to the UN office in Geneva, 41 of whom appeared there in person.

Their statement said hospitals in Gaza were “coming to a halt” as fuel and electricity supply had been cut.

“Doctors are performing surgery without anaesthesia; mothers are watching their babies fighting for survival in incubators that are running out of electricity; the only cancer hospital in Gaza has shut down while other hospitals are bombed,” they said.

“Moreover,” noted the UN ambassadors, “more than 50 entire families have been wiped off the population registry in Gaza; they have been decimated.”

They also pointed to the many aid workers killed, including from UNRWA, the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees in Gaza and across the Middle East.

Separately, UNRWA confirmed that 101 staff were killed since the conflict erupted on October 7.

On Monday, UN offices worldwide will observe a minute of silence in their honour, and the UN flag will be flown at half-mast.

The ambassadors said civilian infrastructure in Gaza, such as refugee camps, apartment buildings, schools, bakeries, mosques and churches, has been directly targeted and reduced to rubble, while at least 45 per cent of all housing has either been destroyed, rendered uninhabitable or damaged.

They appealed for an immediate ceasefire and urged the international community “to exert maximum pressure” to ensure emergency humanitarian access, assistance, and the restoration of basic services.

The ambassadors also demanded all hostages and political detainees be released, and action must be taken to protect civilians and safeguard civilian facilities, particularly UNRWA schools used as emergency shelters.

They also demanded action to end the forcible transfer of Palestinians within or from Gaza.

The statement urged Israel to grant immediate access to the Independent International UN Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory.

It also emphasised the importance of addressing and eradicating the root causes of the current crisis and recurrent cycles of violence.

“The international community must act now on their solemn obligations under international law. The sooner the international community takes action through the countless tools it has at its disposal, the faster bloodshed will end, lives and human suffering spared, and peace and coexistence prevail,” said the statement.

(NAN)