Israel-Gaza war: UN chief condemns Israel for ‘heartbreaking’ deaths, with over 25,000 dead in Gaza
- UN chief Antonio Guterres denounced Israel for ‘mass destruction’ and for ‘heartbreaking and utterly unacceptable’ deaths of Palestinian civilians
- 25,105 Palestinians have been killed and 62,681 have been injured in Israeli strikes since October 7, with civilians accounting for most deaths
“Israel’s military operations have spread mass destruction and killed civilians on a scale unprecedented during my time as secretary-general,” Guterres said at the opening of a summit of the G77+China in the Ugandan capital Kampala.
“This is heartbreaking and utterly unacceptable. The Middle East is a tinderbox, we must do all we can to prevent conflict from igniting across the region.”
The toll of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7 has passed 25,000, health officials in the enclave said on Sunday, amid heavy Israeli strikes and street battles raging across the Hamas-run Strip.
Israeli forces and Hamas fighters clashed in several locations, from Jabalia in the north to Khan Younis farther south.
Gaza’s health ministry said 178 Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours, one of the deadliest days so far of the war. Israel’s military said a soldier was killed in fighting.
A total of 25,105 Palestinians have been killed and 62,681 have been injured in Israeli strikes since October 7, the Gaza ministry said. It does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths but says most of those killed have been civilians.
Israel launched its campaign to eliminate Hamas after the Islamist group burst into Israel on October 7 and rampaged through southern towns and bases, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and dragging 253 hostages back to the enclave.
