Gaza has "simply become uninhabitable" three months since the Israel-Hamas war started, said UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths in a statement posted on Friday (Jan. 5).

He called for an immediate end to the war, which he characterised as "assaults on the most basic precepts of humanity".

A place of death and despair

Griffith said that Gaza has become a place of "death and despair" since the Oct. 7 attack.

"Its people are witnessing daily threats to their very existence — while the world watches on."

Tens of thousands of people, most of whom were women and children, have been killed or injured, the statement added. Families are also forced to sleep in the open as temperatures go lower.

"People are facing the highest level of food insecurity ever recorded [and] famine is around the corner," Griffiths said.

He added that a public health disaster is unfolding, with medical facilities facing constant attacks and the few functioning hospitals being overwhelmed and critically short of supplies.

Infectious diseases are also spreading and amidst the chaos, about 180 Palestinian women are giving birth daily.

Immediate end to the war

The humanitarian community has the "impossible mission" of supporting more than 2 million people while UN staff have been killed and displaced.

All these while communication blackouts continue, roads are damaged, and vital commercial supplies are "almost non-existent", among other things.

"We continue to demand an immediate end to the war," Griffiths asserted.

He urged the involved parties to "meet all their obligations under international law", including to protect civilians and to release all hostages immediately.

"This war should never have started. But it’s long past time for it to end," Griffiths said.

22,438 Palestinians killed between Oct. 7 and Jan. 3

The Israel-Hamas war started after the Oct. 7 attack throughout southern Israel, beginning with a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip, followed by a terror attack by Hamas militants that killed over 1,400 people, mostly civilians, with a further 200 more taken hostage.

Since then, the Israeli government imposed a "complete siege" of Gaza, cutting off food, water, and electricity.

Israel's air, ground, and sea assault in Gaza has claimed 22,438 Palestinians and injured 57,614 between Oct. 7, 2023 and Jan. 3, 2024, Al Jazeera reported, citing United Nations agency OCHA.

Top image via @UNRWA/X.