UN Secretary General expresses dismay over civilian casualties in Gaza

The Spokesman of the UN Secretary General Stephane Dujarric said in a statement that Antonio Guterres is dismayed by the increasing number of civilian casualties including children, as a result of an Israeli airstrike in the Al-Shati camp in Gaza which was allegedly aimed at a Hamas leader.

He said the UN Secretary General is also deeply disturbed by the destruction of a high-rise building in Gaza City by an Israeli airstrike that housed the offices of several international media outlets and residential apartments.

This is the third building destroyed by the apartheid state in its war on press freedom that housed media houses.

Other than media offices of foreign press, Al-Jalaa tower also housed two radio channels and a blood bank.

Al-Jazeera reporters posted on twitter that Israel had given the employees an hour before striking the building. The channel, one of the very few international organizations covering the ground situation, broadcast the telephonic conversation between the owner of the building and Israeli intelligence officers.

The owner, Abu Husam, can be heard asking the officers to give the media organisations time to remove their equipment but was told no.

The UN Secretary General reminded all sides that any indiscriminate targeting of civilian and media structures violates international law and must be avoided at all costs.

Meanwhile, a press release issued by the White House said that the US President Joe Biden has also expressed to the Israeli Prime Minister his concern about the safety of journalists after an Israeli strike destroyed a building housing the premises of the US-headquartered Associated Press in Gaza.

Israel continues its ground and Arial war against Palestine, bombarding the Gaza strip, killing dozens of children and hundreds of unarmed innocent Palestinians.