FIRST RESPONDERS KIDNAPPED - CALL FOR CEASEFIRE NOW

The recent, original U.N. Security Council resolution would have called for, and made a total ceasefire enforceable by international law, but had to be gutted in order to avoid my country from abusing our veto vote. The U.S. has continually undermined the rest of the world’s desire for a ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian relief into Gaza. OCHA made it clear on 12/27 that the increasing scale of attacks and destruction has greatly impeded the effective delivery and distribution of humanitarian aide. The scarcity of fuel contributes to OCHA's challenges both in running the transportation of aide, but also the generators that could power remaining infrastructure. Both OCHA and other humanitarian organizations struggling to operate in Gaza have made it clear to the world over and over again that they require a ceasefire to safely and effectively operate. There has only been 1 convoy of humanitarian aide that has been able to reach Northern Gaza since 12/1. There have only been 2 prior successful deliveries of humanitarian aide since 10/7. The IPC estimates that approximately 17% in Gaza are experience catastrophic famine, characterized by at least the deaths of 2 adults or 4 children per 10,000 people per DAY. They’ve advised that the numbers of deaths due to outright starvation have exceeded this designation requirement and most facing these conditions are in Northern Gaza, where approximately 25% of the remaining people are currently starving to death. IPC's projections for February are bleak. If nothing changes by then, over half of those in Gaza face severe malnutrition and increasing deaths by starvation, and approximately 26% will face the catastrophic famine phase of fast-paced death by starvation previously described. As of 12/28, the entire population of Gaza is experiencing food insecurity and malnutrition of some form. The IPC has noted this is the worst % of a population facing food insecurity they have ever assessed in their almost 20 years of operation. Like all things about what Israel has done to Palestinians - the starvation, too, is unprecedented. Last week the PRCS Jabalia Ambulance Center in Northern Gaza was under total siege. There were approximately 127 people in the center comprised of first responders, volunteers, injured persons, and families seeking refuge. On 12/21 the IDF detained the first responders en masse and took them to an unknown location. As of 12/28 we still do not know the status or location of the PRCS teams. This is only one mass kidnapping of medical staff reported since 10/7. There are currently NO operational hospitals left in Northern Gaza. On Christmas Day Netanyahu visited the IDF in northern Gaza who had committed multiple massacres for the holiday, and gave one order to their depraved psyches, "Do not stop". Today, I have one message for yours, "Call for a ceasefire right now."