By: Mercy Peter
The envoy of the State of Palestine to Nigeria Mr Abdullah Shawesh on Monday called on the international community to assist in rescuing people still under debris.
Shawesh said a specialised team is required to save life’s and also remove the dead bodies.
He spoke in Abuja while addressing the press on the ongoing hostility between his country and Israel.
According to him, “Urgent international actions are needed to set up special mechanisms and specialized teams to remove debris from homes and buildings that Israel’s army has bombed, rescue those trapped alive under the rubble and retrieve the thousands of dead bodies stuck under it.”
He explained that “13, 000 Palestinian are reportedly missing in the Gaza Strip.”
Also, the Palestinian Ambassador said the damage to critical infrastructure is in the tune of $18.5 billion.
Shawesh who was quoting the World Bank and the UN joint report said that the amount is equivalent to 97% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
He pointed out that over one million people are without homes, while 75 percent of the population is displaced.
Beside the fact that majority of the population no longer have access to health facilities as the ambassador pointed out that 84% of the country’s health facilities are destroyed.
He said the education sector has collapsed as 100% of the children are out of school.
Giving an update of the hostility which has lasted 192 days, Shawesh said as at 12 April 2024, no fewer than 33,634 Palestinian had been killed and at least 76,214 wounded in the Gaza Strip.
He said over 462 Palestinian were also killed in the occupied west bank and East Jerusalem.
He added that as of Tuesday, April 9, the number of the Palestinian detained since October 7 is 8, 165 from the occupied West Bank only, including 272 women, 500 children and 66 journalists, 45 of whom are still under arrest and 24 of whom are sentenced to administrative detention.
