Russia calls for investigation of all deaths of humanitarian workers in Gaza – envoy to UN

Russia supports a call by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to investigate every death of humanitarian workers in Gaza, said Vasily Nebenzya, the Russian envoy to the UN.

“We demand from Israel strict compliance with the provisions of international humanitarian law, condemn attacks on UN personnel and humanitarian staff working on the ground, and support the call of the secretary-general for an international and independent investigation into all deaths of those who help Palestinians survive,” Nebenzya said at a UN Security Council meeting devoted to the situation in the town of Rafah.

“There are no stable channels of humanitarian assistance in the enclave. Over the past two weeks, the Israel Defense Forces has been blocking the entry of 3,000 trucks with humanitarian aid for enclave residents through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom checkpoints,” the diplomat went on to say. “All the while, Israeli aviation has been striking targets in the southern and central parts of the Gaza Strip.”

He again brought attention to the discovery of seven mass graves of Palestinians in the enclave.

“We are waiting for the results of an independent investigation, which in this regard was demanded by the UN Security Council in its press statement,” the envoy said.

While the humanitarian situation in the confrontation zone is already unprecedented “in terms of the suffering of the civilian population,” it is getting ever more dire every day, according to Nebenzya. He expressed concern over “West Jerusalem’s plans to mop up the town of Rafah in the south of the Palestinian enclave, which has become home to some 1.5 million civilians.” (BSS/TASS)