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North Gaza ‘Apocalyptic,’ Everyone at ‘Imminent Risk’ of Death, Warns UN

Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 1, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 1, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
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North Gaza ‘Apocalyptic,’ Everyone at ‘Imminent Risk’ of Death, Warns UN

Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 1, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 1, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)

The situation in the northern Gaza Strip is "apocalyptic" as Israel pursues a military offensive against Hamas fighters in the area, top United Nations officials warned on Friday.

"The entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence," they said in a statement signed by the heads of UN agencies, including the UN children's agency UNICEF and the World Food Program, and other aid groups.

Israel began a wide military push in northern Gaza earlier this month. The United States has said it was watching to ensure that its ally's actions on the ground show it does not have a "policy of starvation" in the north.

"Humanitarian aid cannot keep up with the scale of the needs due to the access constraints. Basic, life-saving goods are not available. Humanitarians are not safe to do their work and are blocked by Israeli forces and by insecurity from reaching people in need," they said.

They urged all parties fighting in Gaza to protect civilians and called on Israel to "ceases its assault on Gaza and on the humanitarians trying to help."

Israel's UN mission in New York declined comment on the statement. Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon last month told the Security Council that the issue in Gaza was not a lack of aid, saying more than a million tons had been delivered during the past year. He accused Hamas of hijacking the assistance.

Hamas has repeatedly denied Israeli allegations that it was stealing aid and says Israel is to blame for shortages.

On Monday, the Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said around 100,000 people were marooned in Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza without medical or food supplies. Reuters could not verify the number independently.

USAID Administrator Samantha Power spoke with Israel's ambassador to the United States on Friday as a deadline imposed by Washington looms for Israel to improve the situation or face potential restrictions on US military aid.

Power and Herzog "discussed the need to get more aid to the Palestinian people," said USAID spokesperson Benjamin Suarato, adding: "Administrator Power raised serious concern on the humanitarian conditions in northern Gaza."

The United States told Israel in a letter on Oct. 13 that it must take steps within 30 days.

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Arab World

Syria Authorities Say Armed Groups Have Agreed to Disband

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks to the media in Damascus, Syria, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks to the media in Damascus, Syria, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
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Syria Authorities Say Armed Groups Have Agreed to Disband

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks to the media in Damascus, Syria, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks to the media in Damascus, Syria, December 23, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Syria's new leaders announced Tuesday that they had reached an agreement with the country's opposition groups on their dissolution and integration under the defense ministry.  

Absent from the meeting were representatives of the US-backed, Kurdish-led forces that control swathes of Syria's northeast.  

The meeting between the opposition groups and Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa "ended in an agreement on the dissolution of all the groups and their integration under the supervision of the ministry of defense", said a statement carried by the SANA news agency and the authorities' Telegram account.

The announcement comes just over two weeks after President Bashar al-Assad fled Syria, following a lightning offensive spearheaded by Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group.

On Sunday Sharaa, long known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, had said the new authorities would "absolutely not allow there to be weapons in the country outside state control".  

That also applied to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), he said.  

Last week, the military chief of HTS told AFP that Kurdish-held areas would be integrated under the new leadership, and that "Syria will not be divided".  

Thirteen years of civil war in Syria has left more than half a million people dead and fragmented the country into zones of influence controlled by different armed groups backed by regional and international powers.

SDF spokesman Farhad Shami told AFP the question of his group's integration into the national armed forces "should be discussed directly".  

He did not dismiss the possibility, saying that doing so would strengthen "the whole of Syria".  

Shami added that his forces prefer "dialogue with Damascus to resolve all questions".  

- 'Economic leverage' -  

Türkiye has long held ties with HTS, and analysts say that since the opposition took over Syria, both sides have sought to profit from the relationship.  

Ankara accuses the People's Protection Units (YPG) -- the main component of the SDF -- of being affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency on Turkish soil.  

Earlier this month, a Syria specialist who advises Western diplomats in Türkiye said: "The Turks would like to push HTS into striking at the Kurds but HTS doesn't want to get involved."

Although Ankara's role in Assad's overthrow had been "overstated", Türkiye now has "real economic leverage" thanks to the 900-kilometer (560-mile) border it shares with Syria, the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.  

How the situation develops will also depend on US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20 but has already proclaimed that "Türkiye is going to hold the key to Syria".  

Since late November, the SDF has been battling Türkiye-backed fighters who launched an offensive on Kurdish-held areas at the same time as HTS's anti-Assad campaign.  

On Tuesday, the SDF said in a statement its fighters were waging deadly combat to the east of the key city of Manbij, with 16 deaths in its ranks.  

Syria's Kurds, long oppressed under Assad's rule, saw an opportunity during the war to carve out a semi-autonomous territory in the northeast.  

They proved an indispensable ally to the US-led coalition battling the ISIS group.  

Since Assad's ouster on December 8, they have issued numerous statements welcoming his downfall, and also put out calls for dialogue with the new leadership in Damascus and with Türkiye.  

In Syria's northeast, both the Kurdish flag and the three-star independence-era flag used by the new authorities can be seen.