Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on occupied Palestinian territories, has condemned Israel’s plan to allow a four-hour 'humanitarian pause' each day in military operations in northern Gaza to allow civilians to flee to the south as “very cynical and cruel.”
“There has been continuous bombings, 6,000 bombs every week on the Gaza Strip, on this tiny piece of land where people are trapped and the destruction is massive. There won’t be any way back after what Israel is doing to the Gaza Strip,” Albanese said on Friday.
“So four hours cease-fire, yes, to let people breathe and to remember what is the sound of life without bombing before starting bombing them again. It’s very cynical and cruel.”
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes hit near hospitals in Gaza as forces pushed deeper into dense urban neighbourhoods in its ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.
The fighting is prompting increasing numbers of civilians to flee south, and growing numbers of people have been living in and around hospitals, hoping it will be safer than their homes or United Nations shelters in the north, several of which have been hit repeatedly.
Gaza’s largest city is the focus of Israel’s military campaign following Hamas' October 7 incursion in southern Israel, which is now in its second month.
The number of Palestinians killed in the war has risen to over 11,000 including 4,506 children and 3,027 women, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said.
In the occupied West Bank, more than 160 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli raids and attacks.