Tel Aviv [Israel], December 27: The UN's human rights office spokesperson, Seif Magango, said the agency was "gravely concerned" by continued Israeli bombings in the central Gaza Strip.
Since December 24, 137 people have died in two refugee camps alone, the office said on Tuesday, citing information from the aid organization Doctors Without Borders.
"It is particularly concerning that this latest intense bombardment comes after Israeli forces ordered residents from the south of Wadi Gaza to move to Middle Gaza and Tal al-Sultan in Rafah," he said.
"The Israeli Air Force reportedly carried out more than 50 strikes across middle Gaza on 24-25 December, including on three refugee camps, al-Bureij, al-Nuseirat, and al-Maghazi."All roads between the camps have been destroyed, worsening the already catastrophic situation when it comes to the distribution of supplies.
The UN Human Rights Office reminded that in order to comply with international humanitarian law, Israeli forces must do everything possible to avoid harming civilians.
"Warnings and evacuation orders do not absolve them of the full range of their international humanitarian law obligations."
Meanwhile, an employee of the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has described what she saw at the Al-Aqsa hospital in Gaza as "absolute carnage."
Gemma Connell told the BBC that there were many injured with "extremely severe wounds but [who] cannot be treated because there are so many people in front of them in the line for surgery, and the hospital is absolutely overloaded."
"Tragically I saw a nine-year-old boy with a devastating head injury who passed away," Connell was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
Israel's army has stepped up its operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a troop visit to the sealed-off coastal strip that Israel would "intensify the fight in the coming days."
The Israeli army's offensive to eliminate Hamas from Gaza was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, carried out by Hamas and other groups on October 7. Around 1,200 people were killed and about 240 were taken hostage, some of whom were later released during a brief truce.
Large parts of Gaza have been destroyed during the Israeli offensive.
Source: Qatar Tribune