The heads of several UN organisations and humanitarian groups have issued a joint call for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas.

“We renew our plea for the parties to respect all their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law,’’ they said.

The plea was signed by the heads of several UN bodies and international charities, including the head of the UN’s emergency relief organisation OCHA, the International Organisation for Migration, the UN Development Programme, the UN refugee agency UNHCR, as well as several NGOs such as Save the Children and CARE International, among others.

They condemned the horrific killing of Israelis and the taking of hostages by Hamas, as well as the firing of rockets from Gaza.

“However, the horrific killings of even more civilians in Gaza are an outrage, as is cutting off 2.2 million Palestinians from food, water, medicine, electricity, and fuel,’’ they said.

Israel has almost completely sealed off the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7, when Hamas fighters launched an unprecedented assault on Israeli communities.

Israel then launched a massive bombardment of the Gaza Strip, aimed at eliminating Hamas.

“It’s been 30 days. Enough is enough. This must stop now,’’ they said. 

(dpa/NAN)