UN official says humanity lost ‘moral compass’ on Gaza, urges immediate action

The international community has lost its “moral compass” on war-ravaged Gaza, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said Tuesday.

“For me, of great concern is that we have lost our moral compass on Gaza, as a humanity, as the international community,” Mohammed told a news conference.

“We need to do something about that fast — we’re late,” she added. “There are thousands of children that continue to lose their lives, that live amputated. There are hundreds that we are waiting to come home, hostages.”

The Gaza war was sparked by the October 7 attack against Israel by Hamas militants that resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

The militants also took more than 250 Israeli and foreign hostages, 129 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli army says are dead.

In the six months since then, Israel’s retaliatory bombing and ground offensive have killed at least 33,175 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Mohammed did not detail the specific measures she is calling for, but UN chief Antonio Guterres has urged a humanitarian ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas.