The heads of several UN agencies published an open letter on Saturday calling for an immediate end to all military action in the Middle East that violates international law.
The statement, written by UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher and other agency leaders, declared “continued violations of the rules of war and international humanitarian law”.
Criticizing the current situation resulting from the US-Israeli war that began on February 28 against Iran and the still-unresolved Gaza nightmare, the UN agency heads said: “Over the past month across the Middle East, thousands of civilians have been killed and injured. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced, many times over.”
“The numbers continue to rise and access to essential services is becoming more difficult,” the statement said. Agency leaders have expressed concern about the impact of the conflict on “women and children and others with specific needs”, as well as on food and fuel prices around the world.
The international body also noted that aid workers are paying an increasingly high price for trying to help people trapped in war zones.
“Fourteen aid workers in the occupied Palestinian territories, eight in Iran and five in Lebanon have been killed or injured since the beginning of this year,” the statement said, calling it “an alarming toll”.
Finally, the statement “strongly condemned all attacks on civilians, including humanitarian and aid personnel, as well as civilian objects.”
Urging governments and armed non-state actors to respect the legal obligation to protect all civilians, the statement concluded by saying, “All violations must be met with accountability.”