Middle East updates: UN chief calls Gaza a 'horror show'

The US State Department has confirmed the death of Hosam Saraya, a US citizen, in the predominantly Druze region of Sweida in Syria last week.

A State Department spokesperson said that they are providing consular assistance to the family. However, the spokesperson declined to provide further details.

Earlier, ABC News reported that Saraya's friends and family confirmed seeing him and other relatives in a video showing people being shot.

Israel's military has expanded its ground operation in Deir al-Balah, a city in the Gaza Strip. Aid agencies are warning of significant disruption to their operations in the Palestinian territory.

World Health Organisation spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told DW that one of the main warehouses in Deir al-Balah was hit, and the medical supplies stored there are now lost.

"Our humanitarian operations will become more and more difficult as we have our own colleagues that are being displaced," he added.

"People that are hungry, they are dying, they are sick, and our supplies are just minutes away without having a permit to get them in," the spokesperson said. 

Jasarevic also said that foreign medical teams that are willing to come are frequently denied visas.

"Just in past couple of months, 58 international medical personnel, including surgeons and specialists, were simply denied a visa to go and work inside Gaza," he explained.

An outbreak of violence in March in western Syria claimed 1,426 lives, mostly civilians, according to a Syrian fact-finding mission.

According to the committee, the violence in coastal areas broke out on March 6, when armed groups loyal to the ousted dictator, Bashar Assad, attacked the new government’s security forces, killing 238.

In response, security forces descended on the region from other parts of the country, joined by thousands of armed civilians.

The committee said that some 200,000 armed men mobilized and, as they entered neighborhoods and villages, some committed "widespread, serious violation[s] against civilians," said committee spokesman Yasser al-Farhan.

"These groups carried out large-scale assaults on military and security targets, blocked roads, and used heavy and light weapons," al-Farhan said.

At the time, the British-based war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that over 1,600 people were killed, most of whom were from the Alawite minority to which Assad belonged.

In recent weeks, the southern Syrian province of Sweida has seen new sectarian clashes involving Sunni Muslim Bedouin clans and armed groups from the Druze religious minority.

The interim government's security forces intervened to restore order and ended up siding with the Bedouins. Reports indicate that over 1,000 people were killed in the latest outbreak of violence.

Pro-Palestinian protests on the Greek island of Syros resulted in a cruise ship carrying Israeli tourists leaving without passengers disembarking.

A group of protesters held up Palestinian flags and banners and chanted slogans, calling for an end to the war in Gaza.

The vessel is operated by an Israeli company, Mano Cruise, which said around 1,700 passengers were on board and that it was sailing to Cyprus.

"The management of Mano Cruise has decided in light of the situation in the city of Syros to now sail to another tourist destination," the company said in a press release.

"All passengers and crew members are resting and spending time on the ship on their way to the new destination," the company said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres  said the level of destruction in Gaza under Israeli military attack was unprecedented in recent years and described the situation as a "horror show."

"We need look no further than the horror show in Gaza — with a level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times," he said in a speech to the UN Security Council.

Guterres said that escalated Israeli operations meant "devastation is being layered upon devastation," with the humanitarian system in its "last gasp."

The UN on Tuesday said Israeli forces had killed over 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid since the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began overseeing aid operations.

Israel's military has said that it "views the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza as a matter of utmost importance" and that it works to facilitate its entry in coordination with the international community.

It has also denied allegations that it is preventing aid from reaching Gaza and accuses Hamas of stealing food, an allegation Hamas denies.

In total, Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed 59,106 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Israel says its ongoing military operation in Gaza is aimed at destroying Hamas, who led the attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed.

German Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan said she would have liked Germany to join the list of 28 countries signed a statement demanding an end to the war in Gaza.

Speaking to German regional newspaper Rheinische Post, the Social Democrat (SPD) politician called the statement a "signal."

"What is happening in Gaza right now is unbelievable. Innocent children are dying. People are starving," she said.

According to Alabali Radovan, an "immediate and sustainable ceasefire" is urgently needed.

The foreign ministers of 25 countries published the joint statement on Monday, with Germany not being among them. 

"The civilian population in Gaza must not keep being crushed between the fronts," the German minister further wrote, also calling for Israel to observe international law and allow the safe passage of humanitarian aid.

On Monday, Israel's military entered the city of Deir al-Balah as part of a new offensive. The central city is the only remaining area of Gaza which had not suffered widespread destruction. It's is home to thousands of Palestinians who have taken shelter from fighting in the rest of Gaza.

The EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday that she had spoken with her Israeli counterpart. She said that Israel's military "must stop" killing civilians at aid distribution points. 

On Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot strongly condemned Israel's expanding military operations in Gaza. 

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza is disgraceful. It is a scandal that must be ended immediately," Barrot told France Inter radio.

There is "no longer any justification for the Israeli army's military operations in Gaza. It is an offensive that will exacerbate an already catastrophic situation and lead to further forced displacement, which we condemn in the strongest terms," he said.

Barot also urged for foreign media to be allowed into Gaza. 

"I demand that the free and independent press be given access to Gaza to show what is happening there and to report on it."

Foreign journalists have not been allowed to enter Gaza since the war began in 2023. 

Israeli forces stormed several WHO facilities during their latest advance in the Gaza Strip, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement on Monday.

The facilities were attacked three times, according to Ghebreyesus.

He said, "Israeli military entered the premises, forcing women and children to evacuate on foot toward Al-Mawasi amid active conflict."

"Male staff and family members were handcuffed, stripped, interrogated on the spot and screened at gunpoint. Two WHO staff and two family members were detained. Three were later released, while one staff member remains in detention."

The WHO is calling for the staff member's release. 

Tedros said that the main WHO warehouse, located in Deir al-Balah, was also damaged. 

"As the lead agency for health, compromising WHO's operations is crippling the entire health response in Gaza," Tedros said. "A ceasefire is not just necessary, it is overdue."

WHO stated it will remain in Deir al-Balah and continue its operations despite the attacks.

Israel's army did not initially comment on the incidents.

Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that a WHO staff residence in Deir-al-Balah "was attacked three times."

This comes after Israel launched a ground offensive on Monday in the city in central Gaza. 

On Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called on Israel to allow foreign press into the enclave.

Follow along as DW brings you the latest reports, explainers and analysis on developments across the Middle East.