UN chief says Gaza becoming a ‘graveyard for children’

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday that the protection of civilians “must be paramount” in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas, warning that the Gaza Strip was becoming “a graveyard for children.”

“Ground operations by the Israel Defense Forces and continued bombardment are hitting civilians, hospitals, refugee camps, mosques, churches and U.N. facilities – including shelters. No one is safe,” Guterres told reporters.

“At the same time, Hamas and other militants use civilians as human shields and continue to launch rockets indiscriminately towards Israel,” he said.

He said clear violations of international humanitarian law were being committed and again appealed for a humanitarian ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Israeli security forces killed four Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank on Monday in the latest in a series of deadly incidents that have spiralled in the wake of the war in Gaza.

Israel’s military and police said in a joint statement the four killed were part of a West Bank cell that was directed by the Islamist movement Hamas and which was behind numerous shooting attacks.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said the four were killed in the western West Bank city of Tulkarm, close to the boundary with Israel, after Israeli forces opened fire on their car.

Prior to the latest incident, at least 155 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank since the deadly October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures.

UN leaders say Gaza war must ‘stop now’ as death toll tops 10,000

The worsening violence comes after more than 18 months of bloodshed that has fuelled fears the West Bank could explode and become a new front in the Israel-Hamas war. (Reporting by Ali Sawafta and Ari Rabinovitch.

Meanwhile, Israel’s military said on Monday it was striking targets belong to the Shi’ite militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, and that details would follow.

The military’s statement came after a barrage of rockets from Lebanon at cities in northern Israel, not far from the Lebanese border.