Gaza: Situation remains “absolutely catastrophic,” Senior Humanitarian Coordinator | United Nations

United Nations

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Press briefing by Ms. Sigrid Kaag, Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza pursuant to Security Council Resolution 2.-----------Upon returning from her latest visit to Gaza, Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag today (29 Jul) said the situation remains “absolutely catastrophic,” and the level of destruction, “is almost incomprehensible.”Kaag, briefing via video teleconference from Amman, said, “for ten months now, Palestinian civilians have suffered a horrendous maelstrom of human misery, from the scale of destruction to the impact and trauma on the individual lives, of course, including the large numbers of civilians that have lost their lives.”As “summer temperatures are soaring, she said, the UN team and partners “are truly working to address the severe shortages of waste management and sanitation facilities, particularly if we continue to look at the risk of outbreaks when it comes to communicable diseases.”Kaag said the UN’s work is geared “to to ensure that we're ready, if and when that so much needed cease fire is actually announced and formalised.”She said, “the UN and its partners is working to ramp up the supplies through pre-positioning from Jordan and Egypt. We're asking the donors to keep financing, and of course at the political level, I engage with everyone to ensure we can actually do so and deliver.”The Senior official said, “it begs the question, of course, what are we asking? What suffering and trauma is inflicted to innocent civilians? And what is the message you give about the ability to recover and reconstruct Gaza?”She said, “to our understanding, there's a clear role for the Palestinian Authority when it comes to the priorities and when it comes to empowerment, when it comes to the ownership and the support by the population of what needs to be done, where it needs to be done. Recovery and reconstruction is not an easy process. If you look at very simple, important issues; land ownership, what type of schooling do children want if it's not in an ordinary school? If they go to a public sector school, what are the needs? The job creation. It's a long list.”Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Kaag in December 2023 as Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza pursuant to Security Council Resolution 2720 (2023). In this role, she facilitates, coordinates, monitors, and verifies humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza.