UN: Gaza Attacks Surge 46 Pct, Highest Weekly Level Since Ceasefire

HAMILTON, April 22 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- The United Nations (UN) said on Tuesday that violence in the Gaza Strip surged to its highest level since a ceasefire on Oct 10 last year, with incidents rising by nearly half compared with the previous week, Anadolu Ajansi reported.

"Our partners on the ground report that between April 12 and 18, incidents such as gunfire, shelling and strikes increased by 46 per cent compared with the previous week, marking the highest weekly total since the October ceasefire agreement came into effect," said spokesperson Stephane Dujarric at a news conference.

Dujarric noted that "the North Gaza, Gaza and Deir al-Balah governorates saw the sharpest increases."

On the humanitarian front, he warned that restrictions were hampering efforts to address the threat of unexploded ordnance across the territory.

While mine action partners had conducted education sessions for tens of thousands of civilians, he said that "addressing this threat more effectively requires the entry of specialised equipment and a full range of clearance and disposal activities."

"Restrictions, including limitations on the entry of equipment needed to dispose of explosive ordnance, continue to hamper the overall humanitarian response," he added.

The attacks come as part of ongoing Israeli violations of the ceasefire.

The Gaza Media Office said Israeli forces have committed 2,400 violations since the agreement, including killings, arrests, blockades and starvation measures.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, the violations have resulted in the deaths of 777 Palestinians and injuries to 2,193 as of Monday.

The ceasefire followed two years of Israel’s genocidal war that began in October 2023, which has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and wounded over 172,000, while destroying 90 per cent of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, according to official figures.

Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Dujarric pointed to a troubling pattern of Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank.

He said that "during the first quarter of the year, 33 Palestinians have been killed and 790 injured by Israeli forces or settlers, while over 540 Israeli settler attacks caused casualties or property damage."

He stressed that "attacks affecting civilians must be investigated and civilians must be protected," and that Israel, as the occupying power, "has an obligation to protect the Palestinian population, and perpetrators must be held accountable in line with international humanitarian law."

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU